Ruby's Revenge
by SteelfistJon
Summary: Grimm. White Fang. Bandits. Psychopaths. Cinder. They all have one thing in common, they corrupt the world into a cruel place. Ruby saw the world's true face, cruel and unforgiving. She has tasked herself to destroy the corruption, avenging all that died too early and never deserved it. Ruby will complete her task, either by herself or with others.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Hello, everyone. This was written before Volume 4. That means that Volume 4 is considered non-canon. Also, major spoilers ahead of the ending to Volume 3 if you haven't seen it yet. So, without a further a due, let's get this show on the road.

Disclaimer: RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth and created by the late Monyreak "Monty" Oum. This story will have coarse language and gore. I'm not sure about nudity, that one's just... it's a very iffy thing to put in, but for now it's N/A.

UPDATE: I figured out how to use lines. Pathetic, I know. :(

* * *

 **Chapter 1: A cruel world**

It was a week after Ruby, Jaune, Nora, and Ren left Ruby's home to head to Haven. They knew that if they made it there, then they can investigate the reason behind Beacon's downfall. The four of them were going through a forest that had little to no Grimm in it, which was the perfect place to set up camp when it got dark. It was mid afternoon and was very lively with Nora mostly talking during their hike.

"Hey, Ruby?" Jaune asked.

"Yeah?" Ruby said.

"Do you know how much longer until we reach civilization?"

"Why?" Jaune then pointed over to Nora bugging Ren with a very energetic tone. "Do you really think civilization is going to change that?" She asked.

"No, I just need to get away from her before-" Jaune started to say.

"Hey, what are you guys talking? It it about me? About the forest? About the lack of Grimm? Huh? Huh!?" Nora said in a very enthusiastic voice.

"Oh, just talking about the weather, that's all." Jaune said before he and Ruby smiled at her.

"Okay. Let me know if you spot any Grimm. It'll be so much fun out here." Nora said before Jaune and Ruby looked at each other in confusion.

"We haven't seen Grimm out here for nearly 4 days. She's just really energetic for a fight." Ren said to clear up the air. 4 days earlier, they had helped out a village from Grimm attacking them frequently. They helped out and was rewarded with some supplies for their journey. After a few hours, the sun was at the 7:00 p.m. position in the sky. This meant that they needed to set up camp soon and set up a perimeter for safety, even if there weren't any Grimm here.

"Alright, it's about time we set up camp." Ruby said. They were in an open area in the forest so that they can spot Grimm more easily from there.

"Alright, who should set up the perimeter?" Jaune asked.

"I'll do it. You guys go ahead and get dinner started, okay?" Ruby said.

"Sounds like a plan man! Or... woman!" Nora said happily.

"Good luck with the easy job." Ren said.

"Gotcha. See ya soon." Ruby said before taking off to the treeline. In her mind, the best perimeter to set up is one within the treeline so that any hiding Grimm won't attack them. It went off well, until she heard some commotion from outside the perimeter. They sounded human, so she went to see who that was. Ruby climbed high into the trees for a good vantage point if it's bandits. Before going to what appeared to be a trail, she spotted some people all right, bad people. White Fang soldiers were talking to each other near a big transport truck, hopefully with supplies.

' _Oh crap, White Fang._ ' She thought. ' _Looks like six of them. I know I should get the others, but I can manage_.' Ruby leaped down from the tree she was on and got Crescent Rose out. She didn't transform it into scythe mode since it'd be too noisy, so she snuck up on them with her weapon on rifle mode. Ruby stayed out of sight of the White Fang soldiers until she noticed something moving in the distance.

She shrugged it off as a random animal and kept sneaking towards the Faunus soldiers. Ruby was about to pass a tree when she saw someone else there in mid swing. She couldn't react fast enough to dodge the supposed fatal blow, but she saw the one sided ax being swung from it's blunt side. After she took the hit, she tried to get up, but was then pushed back down to the ground and then had her hands behind her back. The weight of the person was on her, keeping her from escaping.

"Stop wiggling around, you little shit!" The man said. His voice seemed to be smooth and maybe old sounding. "Hey, morons! Help me with this girl here before she can escape!" He said to the White Fang soldiers. They got a rope from the truck and hogtied her to make sure she couldn't escape.

"Who is this girl?" Said a soldier.

"And why is she out here?" Said another.

"It would appear to be a huntress from Beacon Academy. Judging by her physique, she must be in either first or second year. Is that correct, miss?" The White Fang huntsman said.

"Yes." Ruby said.

"And judging by reports from other Fang soldiers, it seems that you are the one called Ruby Rose." The man said.

"What gave it away?" She asked in an uppity tone.

"A red hood and cape, silver eyes, and, of course, your weapon." He said before activating Crescent Rose to it's full length, revealing the gigantic scythe. This wowed the soldiers before the huntsman transformed it to it's original state. "Besides, you were on live television and such during the Vytal festival tournament."

"And what are you gonna do with me know?" Ruby said in a snarky tone.

"This." He said before looking to his men. "Muzzle her and put her in the truck. We're leaving."

After that, the soldiers then took a strip of cloth and tied it around her mouth. They proceeded to lift her up and carry her to the truck.

"Just so you know, my name is Grimoire." Grimoire said.

"What about her weapon, boss?" One of the soldiers asked.

"Keep it for yourself, I don't really care." He said. He then heard some rustling in the woods ahead of him. "I think we have company."

"Boss, she had a scroll on her. It looks like it was on for a while." A soldier behind him said.

"Then we definitely have company. A shame we're near one of the short range towers. Get ready." Grimoire said. His men got some rifles ready before Jaune, Ren, and Nora jumped out of the woods, weapons ready.

"Give Ruby back or else!" Jaune said.

"Or else what, exactly?" Grimoire said.

"I crush you with my hammer!" Nora said excitedly.

"You and your White Fang soldiers are outmatched, surrender or we'll be forced to fight." Ren said.

"You don't want to fight? Well, I can grant you that, at the very least." Grimoire said before raising his right hand. The three of them were confused by the gesture before hearing three silent gunshots and then a stinging sensation near their necks when he balled his hand into a fist. "That stuff won't kill you, but it will keep you from saving Ruby."

"What was..." Jaune said before falling to the ground.

"A new substance we created can pierce through the Aura of a huntsman and either kill them or incapacitate them. For you, we used mammal tranquilizer darts to knock you out." He said, before he moved toward Jaune and knelt down to him. "Tell this to Ruby's friends and family, 'We couldn't save her and now she's gone, taken by Grimoire and the White Fang.' Farewell." Grimoire said before Jaune finally lost consciousness.

Ruby just watched them from the back of the truck as they became smaller with each passing second. Then, they disappeared from sight, making Ruby cry from losing her team like that. Where ever she was going to did not bode well for her. After a few hours of travel and muffled crying, they reached an old building that had guards on constant patrol. After arriving there, Ruby was forced out and dragged to another room. The guard there removed the rope from her hands and held them together so that she couldn't move them.

Another guard had some hand and feet cuffs that didn't seem to actually fit Ruby. The guard holding her hands put them out one by one in front of her while the other guard put the handcuffs on her. One more guard was summoned for the tricky part of this ordeal. The first guard put his arms around her legs so that she wouldn't run from them when the ropes were cut off. The second guard got ready to put the feet cuffs on her. The third got a knife out and cut away at the rope. All the while, Ruby tried to struggle to see if the one on her legs would slip up or something.

When the third guard was done cutting, Ruby intensified her struggle to try and break free. She fell to the ground, trying her best to get up. Alas, the guard that was holding her legs was now on them so she couldn't kick anyone. The second guard finally got the feet cuffs on her, pulling down the hand part of the cuffs. After the guard put the feet cuffs on, Ruby immediately tried to run, but kept falling over with every failed attempt.

"Nice try, but those cuffs were made just for you." Said one of the guards. Ruby then moved her arms and legs up so she could grab the cloth that was muzzling her.

"Why are you doing this?" Ruby asked, still crying from earlier.

"We were ordered to do so by Cinder." Grimoire said behind her.

"What? I thought that-" Ruby started to say.

"She may have been in a similar state to that of the dragon? She had finally 'thawed' out 24 hours ago. Give or take a few minutes. One of her orders, albeit in a very tired state, said to find the one with a red hood and silver eyes. Find Ruby."

"She must be really mad."

"Indeed. Were I right there with her, I fear that I would be burned to a crisp."

"Well, wasn't it just your lucky day."

"Why, of course." He then looked to the White Fang guards. "Take her to her cell, she'll need the rest. Also, don't drag her too much. I expect her to be looking nice for tomorrow." Grimoire said before the guards muzzled her again with the same cloth. They carried her to a cell in the basement of the building, which didn't seem like a place for a cell. The guards threw her in the cell and then went back up after securing the lock on the cell. Ruby just laid there, crying on the cold, rocky floor before finally falling asleep.

"Get up." Grimoire said, making Ruby groan a little. "I said 'Get UP'!" He then kicked her in the stomach to make her wake up. Ruby just writhed in pain, clenching her abdomen.

"Nice morning, isn't it?" Ruby said while in pain. She was a little surprised from herself speaking, just now remembering that she took off the cloth and threw it in the corner. Seeing Grimoire with more lights, she could tell that he had white hair going to an inch below his shoulders and looked like he was in his mid-forties with no facial hair.

"Yes. How do you feel?"

"Like I wanna puke."

"You." Grimoire said to a White Fang guard. "Bring her something to eat." The guard then went to go get some food for Ruby.

"How nice of you." Ruby said sarcastically.

"It's the least I can do." Grimoire said in a taunting voice. The guard returned with a plate of delicious, neatly, organized food and a plate with what looked like mauled leftovers mixed together. "Thank you." He said to the guard giving him the nice food and Ruby the mauled leftovers.

"Thanks." Ruby said in a monotone voice. She tried to grab at what she thought was a strip of meat, but found out she needed to move both hands and feet to grab anything. She went and grabbed the meat to at least try to have it reach her mouth. Before biting down on it, she noticed that some of the guards were trying to look up her skirt. "It too frilly for you guys to see anything." Some of them had embarrassed expressions on their faces from either being called out or knowing someone who would do that.

After eating through half of her meal, she felt like she was going to puke if she kept eating.

"I think I'm done." Ruby said.

"Sure, go ahead skip out on a good lunch." Grimoire said.

"What?"

"If you can finish that, I promise to give you a very flavorful and absolutely appetizing lunch."

"Two questions. Can I pick what I want for lunch and how long do I have to finish?"

"I'll consider it and within five minutes." With that, Ruby continued eating her food, even if it didn't taste good. After she was done eating, she was taken to another room for this "special occasion" surrounded by four guards.

"Totally worth it!" Ruby said with agony in her voice.

"Don't vomit on me." Grimoire ordered.

"Got it." She said. The six of them entered an empty room with holes in the walls and ceiling, leaking in sunlight. Grimoire gestured one of the other White Fang members to activate a screen of sorts. It seemed to be trying to connect to something, individually connecting to short range towers to somewhere. After a few moments of silence and a few seconds of static, a picture of Cinder in a makeshift bed came on screen beside Emerald.

"Try to take it easy." Emerald said

"That depends on-" Cinder said before looking at Grimoire with a surprised look.

"Hello, Cinder." Grimoire said.

"Grimoire!" Cinder said with an angry tone and expression.

"Cinder?" Emerald said.

"No promises, Emerald!" Cinder said while still looking at Grimoire.

"Such a delight to see you again, dear Cinder." Grimoire said in a polite, sarcastic tone.

"Don't you start with that, you asshole!" Cinder yelled before coughing extremely hard.

"Try not to hurt yourself from your own scolding. I have, with me, the grandest prize of your heart's desire." He said before stepping to the side while Cinder was talking.

"If this is one of your prank calls, I'M GONNA-" Cinder stopped in mid-sentence to see Ruby chained up on the floor. When fully understanding what she saw, Cinder started to laugh hysterically. This started to scare everyone on both ends of the transmission.

"Are you alright, Cinder?" Grimoire asked, a little worried about her sanity.

"Oh, I'm feeling just ecstatic, Grimoire! This is the little fucker who froze me and my Grimm, and she deserves a very agonizing punishment from me, personally! Bring Ruby to me ASAP!" Cinder said in a very frantic and maniacal tone. Grimoire then stepped in front of the screen and held a hand up toward Cinder, making her extremely mad at him.

"Cinder, before you stop listening and lose yourself to your vengeance, hear me out." He said, trying not to anger her any further. Soon enough, Cinder calmed down to hear him out.

"Proceed." She ordered weakly. Grimoire then turned to his men to speak.

"Members of the White Fang! You know that this little bitch, Ruby, had nearly cost you your new world! I ask you, do you wish to punish her yourself or let your leader take her away from you before you have a chance!?" Grimoire said, making every member in his room and Cinder's room roar in approval.

"Do I have a say in-" Ruby said before being punched in the stomach from Grimoire. The force of the punch was enough to make her up-chuck her breakfast, something she didn't want to do. All she could process now was the pain on her abdomen, Grimoire's speech, and the smell and taste of her vomit.

"I think you should get your individual revenge before you give her to Cinder. Do you all agree?" Grimoire said before White Fang members cheered like crazy. "They have spoken." He said to Cinder.

"It seems that way." Cinder said weakly, yet pleased. "Do leave some pieces for me to break." She said while breathing heavily.

"No promises, unfortunately." Grimoire said before the screen turned off. He turned to see Ruby look up in pain to him. "Don't worry, it'll go down hill from here for both you and me."

"Because you have to go where I go?" Ruby asked slightly in pain.

"Yes." He said, unenthusiastically.

"Great. Just great."

"I still owe you a good lunch, either way."

"Okay." Ruby said in a sad tone. Afterwards, she was taken back to her cell and was depressed, thinking of what might await her in her future tortures, until lunch had arrived. She went from sad to happy in an instant from the beautiful sight and smell of her meal. A plate with 4 slices of smoked brisket with BBQ sauce on them, buttered mashed potatoes with grounded pepper on it, and some strawberries coated in chocolate was presented to her. "Is that for me?" The guard that was carrying the plate slid it in the cell food slot on the floor along with some silver ware on the plate. Ruby then went and snagged the plate before any of the guards could mess with it. The first bite of the brisket was the best thing she had tasted since the Vytal Festival. Each bite of her meal was savored in case she was given shit meals here on out.

"I told you it'd be really nice." Grimoire said.

"This is fantastic." Ruby said gleefully.

"Tomorrow, we leave for another White Fang outpost. You'll be in a run down shack near the place for obvious reasons. I suggest you don't try to escape when we're there." He said before giving Ruby a small cup of strawberry juice.

"Afraid I'll ruin your 'no escapees' streak?"

"No, I'm afraid of ruining my 'stop prisoners from killing themselves' streak."

"You know I can out run you and the White Fang, right?" She said before gulping down her drink.

"Normally, yes... if we didn't lace your meal and drink with 'anti-Dust'."

"What does that do?"

"Some tests we conducted suggests that it can depletes someones Aura instead of increasing the potential. Enough of it can deplete ones Aura for quite a while, actually."

"What?"

"The longest time for 10 grams was for nearly two weeks, ten days to be precise. The best part is, you will never know what we'll lace, so don't try to starve yourself." His last statement horrified her. She didn't want to die from starvation or dehydration, but she also didn't want to be tortured for who-knows-how-long. She felt like she was in between a rock and a hard place. She knew that there was only one option for her, even if it meant endless pain.

"I'll be a good prisoner." She said in a defeated tone.

"Good. Enjoy the rest of the day. They'll start the torture tomorrow." Grimoire said before leaving the basement. With that, Ruby just sat in her cell, as depressed as ever.

The next morning, Ruby, Grimoire, and some White Fang guards got in a truck and drove off to the next facility. When arriving at the shack, Ruby tried to prepare for the beatings she would soon receive. The first guard went and clocked her right in the face, then kicked her in the stomach a few times. With her hands behind her and in restraints, she couldn't protect herself from them. The next guard got her to stand up and proceeded to punching her stomach. The next three guards just kicked her a few times pretty much everywhere since the sixth and last one wanted to give her the brunt of their torture.

"Anything you'd like to say?" The last guard said in a dead tone.

"I... want to... go home!" Ruby said, nearly breaking down when she said 'go home'. The guard kicked the side of her face when she finished her statement. He then kicked her in the abdomen vertically before grabbing her hair and collar. Letting go of her collar, he kneed her right in the face. He kept kicking her until he stopped for a brief moment. Ruby was able to breath for a short moment, blood dripping from her mouth and nose, before her head was stomped to the ground.

"Well, this has sure been life changing for you and me, girl. I get to beat you to a bloody pulp while you suffer. A very good day, isn't it?" The guard said before kicking her in the head again and repeatedly stomped it. After a while, the guard held her head up with his foot before telling her something. "I'll be back tomorrow for more of this fun. Until then, see ya." The guard said before kicking her one last time. All of the guards left the room she was in since they couldn't stand her crying.

"Why did this happen? Why did I have to do something so stupid and get caught? Is some deity trying to tell me something? Why me? Why me." She said, sobbing in between sentences. Every other day was the same kind treatment, but was worst than the last. After every month, they moved to a new location to try and keep the authorities of their backs.

Ruby was suspicious that they would bring in human children every now and then. All she knew was that they brought in a child in her room, take the child with them after a few minutes, then hear screaming for a minute or two before it was suddenly silenced. She didn't want to know what happened to them, since they seemed to disappear the next day. The White Fang seemed to upgrade Crescent Rose to be able to kill huntsman in five shots, depending on how strong their Aura was.

* * *

Three months after she became a prisoner, Ruby was in her "room", trying to figure out a way to escape. Suddenly, she heard another kid, probably a girl, trying to fight the White Fang and book it. They finally got her in Ruby's room and tied her up next to Ruby so she couldn't escape. They left the two girls alone to get some stuff done before getting the non-important kid again. Ruby decided to befriend the girl before they take her, as was her usual for temporary prisoners.

"Hello." Ruby said. The girl just turned to her, waiting for Ruby to say something else. "My name's Ruby." The girl just grunted in acknowledgment. "I'm trying to be friendly." Ruby said, sounding offended.

"M'names Delilah." The girl said, having a thick English accent. She had orange hair, golden eyes, peach colored skin, and had a light yellow dress with a light pink overcoat.

"Nice to meet you." Ruby said in a cheerful tone.

"You always this cheery?"

"When I'm not being held captive against my will, yeah." Delilah looked at her with a stink eye look. "Sorry."

"Don't sweat it, I'm still a bit mad that these assholes captured me. You from here? You look too fancy for anywhere near here."

"I'm from Vale. Used to go to Beacon academy before... before they infested it with Grimm."

"A huntress in-trainin'? Well, that doesn't bode well for both of us. Especially with those bruises and scratches all over you."

"Yeah, well... it's from a new type of Dust they can manufacture now. They call it anti-Dust since it can get rid of Aura instead of amplifying it." Delilah was very shocked to hear that huntresses and huntsman can have their power depleted from a new material.

"Just... fan-fuckin'-tastic!"

"You always say such rude language?" Ruby said with a disgusted tone.

"Only when I'm treated wrong." Delilah said with a snarky attitude.

"Fair enough." Ruby looked at the door before leaning toward Delilah as best she could. Delilah leaned in from curiosity, knowing Ruby wanted to keep it between them as much as possible. "I have a plan to get out of here."

"I'm listenin'."

"I can feel my Semblance coming back, meaning the dose of anti-dust was too small. If we can convince them to get us out of these ropes, I can use my speed to get us as far away from here as possible."

"What about the guards? They'll just keep shootin' you until you go down or just hit me while we run. Unless you want to... take them down so it's easier to escape."

"I'm... not all that good when it comes to knocking them out, but I think I'll be able to move fast enough before-" Ruby saw that her new friend was featuring a bewildered face. "What?"

"WH- What do mean by **'** knockin' them out **'**!?" Delilah tried her best to keep herself quiet.

"By leaving them unconscious! That is what you said, right?" Ruby was trying to figure out why Delilah was upset when a thought suddenly occurred to her. "You're not suggesting that I kill them, right?"

"That was what I thought you were goin' to do, anyway." Delilah was trying to keep the volume down in her rage before she went to a defeated state. "It would make sense you aren't down for killin' since you didn't graduate."

"Don't be like that. I'm sure that we can get out of here without killing anyone."

"Even if they deserve it?" After that, Ruby had remembered that the other children had disappeared the next day. She didn't want to even think about what happened to them afterwards. "You don't know, do you?"

"Know what?" Ruby said, trying to act like they weren't on the same page. Delilah had sighed before she continued.

"How many were there before me?" She said in a sad tone.

"About 13, at most." With that, Delilah just looked at Ruby, surprised by her answer.

"You're telling me that they killed 13 children!?" Delilah was practically yelling at this point, which didn't help when Ruby looked at her with complete horror on her face. "Not only that, but they told me they hid their corpses in the floor boards so no one would find them. Now do you see why they deserve to die!?"

"Bu- I- No! That- That can't be true. They wouldn't do that, right?" Ruby was trying to convince herself otherwise while holding back tears as best she could.

"Of course they'd do that. Even for terrorists, they're still as cruel as everyone else both inside and outside of kingdoms. They're no better than a bandit or a homicidal maniac. Sure, huntsman try their best, but they can never truly get rid of the evil this world offers. No matter where you live or where you're from, you can never be truly safe. This place is a cruel world!"

After Delilah's rant, Ruby wanted to argue with her that it wasn't all bad. Every time she wanted to make an argument, she always remembered what happened to Vale. She just sat there in silence, until some guards showed up.

"Take the new one." One guard said.

"Like hell you are!" Delilah said before attempting to head butt the closest one. She successfully hit the guard, but he recovered quickly.

"Agh! You bitch!" The guard said before grabbing her. She tried to escape his grasp, but she was pushed to the ground before being dragged out to the next room. "You'll suffer for this."

"Please, leave her alone!" Ruby cried out to the guards.

"Shut up, you! Or you'll be even worse than you already are." The guard said with a smile.

"Ruby! Remember what I told you! Don't forget it!" Delilah said before the door closed behind her, leaving Ruby all by herself. She could hear the struggling between the guards and Delilah in the other room. Delilah was yelling at the top of her longs, throwing swear words at her assailants. The seemed to be laughing at her, which made Delilah swear more. Ruby then heard screams of pain from Delilah and hysterical laughing from the guards. She at first thought they were beating her up, hoping they would be merciful to her for a change. When the screams started to fade, some extremely faint shinks were being heard instead. Ruby had concluded that they were stabbing her with some knife. The screams, laughs, and stabbing sounds faded completely, leaving Ruby to imagine what might have happened to her new friend.

' _They just stabbed her. They stabbed her. Why? Why did they do that!? This world is cruel.'_ She looked down to grieve for her friend when she noticed a wood carving on the floor. Closer examination of the object revealed to her that it was a pocket knife. It wasn't here before, how did it-.

"Delilah." Ruby figured out that Delilah must have thrown it when she head butted the guard. She dragged the knife with her feet until it was in front of her. She moved her tied up hands under her legs to try and get them in front of her. Ruby then grabbed the object, confirming it was a pocket knife. She held the object close to her chest and started to cry. "Thank you." Ruby then move her arms back behind her, still holding the knife in her hands behind her back.

The feeling of the knife in her hand gave her a mix of feelings, with one she recognized when Pyrrha died. Rage was the only thing that flowed throw her mind when Pyrrha was turned to ash. Now, it was rage, grievance, thankfulness, and... determination. She felt determined to get out of here and avenge everyone who the White Fang killed. Ruby heard one of the guards enter her room, probably to beat her again. This was the moment she waited for. She just had to sound convincing enough for him.

"You ready for another beating, girl?" He said before motioning her to a chair he brought in. Ruby did her best to put the knife in her sleeve and then moved to the chair to sit in it. "Heh, I decided to be nice and give you one request."

"Could you... untie the ropes on my hands?" Ruby said in the most pathetic voice she could imitate. The guard thought hard before pulling out his own knife and cut the rope that restrained her hands. "Thank you." The guard laughed at her "pathetic" response.

"Tell you what, why don't I let you hit me once? That sound fair?" Ruby nodded, trying not to smile from how lucky she had gotten so far. She reach her right hand out to the side of his head while slowly unfolding the blade out with her left. The guard just smiled and giggled at her, which was about to end very quickly. "Go ahead and hit me. See if it'll hurt."

"Letting me hit you was the last mistake you'll ever make, you fucker!" Ruby then grabbed his hair and tilted his head as far to his left as she could. She then aimed for his neck and plunged the knife right in. She began pulling the knife out and putting it back into his neck, stabbing him again and again to make sure he'd die. She slowly moved him down to the ground and covered his mouth while stabbing him so he couldn't scream or gurgle loud enough for his friends to hear him. After several more stabs, he laid there with a lifeless expression on his face, blood all over the collar of his uniform.

Ruby heard some rambling and a radio on the other side of the door. She moved to the door and listened carefully to what they were saying. With luck, some of them will leave and reduce the current number to something manageable. She had an idea of what to do, hoping it would work. Lure one of them in her range and kill him, then lure another one in and take him out in her room. And finally, use her speed to take out the remaining two if they don't leave. Looking to her right, she saw some string and a broom stick. It'll have to do.

"Hey, Garry over here needs to take a dump. Think you can hold down the fort while we're gone?" One of the guards said. The ones he talked to just told him to go while listening to the radio. "Alright. Garry, take the sniper scythe with us. Can't be too careful."

"Got it, boss." Garry said before taking Crescent Rose and his buddy with him. This was a good time as any for her plan to be set into motion. She picked up the chair and brought it next to the door. Thankfully, the door swung open on her side, giving her a better advantage. After a good several minutes, she put on an innocent face and opened the door.

"Hey, mister?" Ruby said in a shy voice. "Your friend wanted to ask you something." One of them started to go for the machete next to him, but his friend signaled him not to. Ruby hid the knife behind her with her right hand. Being left handed had it's downsides, but she could manage with her current situation.

Thankfully, the room the guards were in was pretty big. She could go through with her plan very smoothly. The closer he got, the more Ruby felt like she needed to hide the knife. The added darkness to her room, plus the door being opened slightly and the guard concentrating on her, she had a better chance for this plan to work. The guard stood right in front of her. Now it was all or nothing.

"Alright, what was it he wanted me to-" The guard stopped in mid-sentence when he saw his buddy on the ground, dead. "What did you-" He was cut off by Ruby stabbing him right into his windpipe.

"I hope you burn in hell, you bastard." She said before pulling the knife out of the dying guard. His friend saw what happened and got his machete before bolting to the door. Ruby closed the door right after her captor had dropped dead and placed the chair on the door knob. She immediately got the string and tied the knife to the broom stick as quickly as she could.

As soon as she finished, the guard kicked the door open and looked at his other friend in horror. Ruby then charged at him while he was still in a trance and plunged the knife in his chest. When the guard hit the floor, Ruby got on top of him and put her knees on his arms so he couldn't grab her. Ruby then stabbed him in the chest repeatedly, nothing but rage enveloping her with every stab. She stopped to save some of her strength for the other two when they returned.

Ruby entered the main room and focused on nothing but the door, waiting for the other guards to enter. After a minute of waiting, she looked to her left to kill some time. She saw a radio, five chairs, and a table with some cards and beer bottles on it. This must have been their small rest area. She looked to her right to see why their rest area was on one side of the room. Ruby was horrified and angered by this disgusting site.

The floor was opened to reveal skeletons and decaying corpses, air fresheners keeping the smell at bay. Worse was Delilah's unconscious body on the ground, slowly bleeding to death from multiple stab wounds. Ruby wanted them to suffer, now more than ever. She also wanted to help her friend, but needed to keep a close eye on the door in case the other two returned. The door to the outside world opened, followed by the last two guards talking to each other before noticing the scene in front of them.

Their horrified trance was exactly what Ruby needed to take them out. She used her speed to strike the closest one first in the chest. The other one was even more terrified even though he was the one with Crescent Rose. She pulled the knife out and did a horizontal strike across his throat, sending blood out of his neck and mouth.

Ruby turned to the last guard, seeing him about to wet himself. She figured the small dots and streaks of blood on her face made her scarier than usual. The guard seemed to have gotten some extra nerves since he charged at her with the gun as a melee weapon. He held the stock of Crescent Rose in rifle mode as though it was a club.

It wouldn't help him since she dodged around him in mid-swing. Ruby stabbed him in the back, sending the guard to the ground and forcing him to toss Crescent Rose away from him. He writhed in pain before rolling himself over on his back. Ruby then knelt down on his arms before stabbing him right in the middle of the chest, making him scream in pain.

"Before I kill you, tell me one thing. Why would you do this!?" Ruby said while pointing to the other side of the room. He looked over and growled at her.

"Because you humans are horrible. Your people deserve this and much, much more." He hissed at her.

"They were children! They could have LEARNED!" She twisted the knife, making him scream again. "They would've known that what people did was wrong and even tried to change that. And you threw that away! You. Had. No. Right. To. Do. This." She stabbed him over and over after every pause. "Burn. In! HELL!" She stabbed him one final time, seeing he must have died now.

"Good job,... kid." Delilah said in a weak voice. Ruby rushed over to her and tried to cradle her without hurting her too much.

"Delilah. Don't worry. I'll get you out of here and look for help. Please, just try to save your strength." Ruby said, trying to stay cool in her current situation.

"No, don't bother. I-" Delilah coughed up an alarming amount of blood. "I lost too much blood. I wouldn't make it to a doctor." Ruby stared at her before looking down.

"I'm sorry. I'm really sorry." Ruby began to cry, tears about to flow down her face.

"You did nothing wrong. This might've happened anyway, just without you knowing." Delilah weakly moved Ruby's head to look her in the eye. "Please, make this world a better place. Kill everyone that keeps doing really bad things, but don't lose your heart in the process. Forgive those... who have a small bit... of good left in them. Make sure they can keep up a no crime streak. White Fang, bandits, Grimm... they deserve to die." Ruby grabbed one of Delilah's hand to comfort her in her last moments. "It was nice... knowing you,... Ruby."

"It was nice to meet you too, Delilah. Rest easy." Ruby said with a smile and tears trickling down her face. Delilah closed her eyes and exhaled one last time. Ruby was alone. She just hugged Delilah's body and cried into it, praying for forgiveness. After a while, she walked over to Crescent Rose and picked it up before noticing Garry was still alive.

She cocked the rifle before aiming it at the last White Fang guard. Ruby stared into his eyes with a stare that could freeze Cinder in her tracks. Before Garry could speak, she pulled the trigger and sent his brains in every direction.

She got some red Dust off of one of the guards, enough to burn this shack down to the ground. Gathering up some spare high caliber bullets for her weapon, she headed to the entrance of the building. Ruby put the red Dust on floor and looked to see if it was still in her line of sight.

She aimed at it and fired a round, causing a chain reaction that engulfed the whole shack in flames. She stared at it from a safe distance, watching it slowly burn to the ground. After a few minutes, she walked in the direction she figured was the White Fang base that was nearby. ' _I need to kill Grimoire. He, and all of the White Fang there, will die by my blade. They will pay for what happened here in blood.'_ She thought before dashing toward her destination. All she wanted was revenge for the kids they had killed and maimed before Delilah. For what happened to Vale. To Beacon. To Penny. To Pyrrha!

She arrived at the facility a few meters away from the entrance. Ruby was in the trees, scoping the area out to come up with a plan. Two guards at the front gates, four sniper towers with snipers in them, and about two dozen guards, armed with melee weapons and firearms. Not that big on security, since the rifles didn't seem to be of high caliber, aside from the snipers. Ruby knew she could do it, especially with her speed. And as far as everyone down there knows, she's the most innocent huntress on the planet.

Ruby jumped down and headed to the road. She stopped at the edge of the forest to come up with a plan. A simple and brutal plan was the only thing she could think of. Kill the guards at the gate, jump over the wall while getting the snipers, and then slaughter every White Fang asshole in there. She walked toward the facility, waiting for the guards to notice her.

"Halt! Who goes there!" One of the guards said. Ruby just kept walking toward the guards, ignoring his threats.

"Isn't that the red hooded girl from that shack?" The other guards asked.

"You're right. Let's go ahead and teach her a lesson. That Anti-Dust stuff should still be in her system."

"Got it. Come here, girly." The guards started to walk toward her before Ruby dashed toward the first guard. She activated her weapon and cut the guard in half, filling the air with rose petals and blood. "Wh- What!? I- I thought you we-were too n-nice to-" Ruby decapitated the other guard before he could finish his sentence.

She stood in front of the gate and changed her scythe into sniper rifle mode. Aiming the barrel down, she prayed to whatever god existed to give her luck for this part of her plan. She jumped into the air and fired her gun, launching her over the wall. She shot behind her to move her forward, then shot in four directions. Landing in the middle of the facility, she hoped her bullets hit their intended targets.

The White Fang soldiers surrounded her, giving her no immediate escape route. They all thought she was the most idiotic person to take them all on. Ruby had miss-counted, adding about ten or so soldiers, making it about 40-1. She was a huntress out for revenge. They wouldn't stand a chance.

Ruby stood still, head to the ground, her cape covering half her face. "Longshots, do you have eyes on the target?" One of them said into the radio. No answer. "Longshots, do you have eyes on the huntress!?" He yelled into the radio.

"Negative... sir." A weak voice said on the radio.

"What's your status?" The soldier said, worried about his squad mate.

"Others... dead. Won't... make it. Shot in... lung." The sniper said over the radio before coughing and gurgling.

"Longshot 3. Longshot 3! Logan, do you copy?" No answer. "Anyone else!? Rodney. Fred. Jake. Anyone!?" Silence filled the radio. He looked at Ruby, still standing there with her head down to the ground. The names barely fazed her, only giving her some more names to those who wronged innocent people. "Huntress! Where's your friend at!? Hiding in the forest or is he in this-" Ruby shot him right in the face, spraying brains, blood, and skull fragments in every direction. The soldiers just looked at their dead teammate, startled by what just happened.

"What!?" Another soldier said. Ruby changed her weapon into a scythe before aiming the barrel behind her. She fired, hitting another soldier behind her, sending herself toward a soldier directly in front of her. Before facing in front of him, she swung her scythe and cut the Faunus from his right shoulder to the lower left part of his abdomen. The soldier next to her screamed in fear before he was cut down as well. Some of the other White Fang soldiers charged at her with melee weapons, about 10 of them, while the rest went to get some firearms.

The ten or so CQC attackers had surrounded her in a circle, which was exactly what she wanted. Ruby shot two of her attackers, eight of them left, before cutting down the closest one to her. She swung her scythe horizontally right, taking out another three. Slashing to her left, she grazed two of them and killed another one, before aiming behind her.

The soldier behind Ruby jumped back from the barrel of her gun, only to get shot right in the chest. With the momentum, Ruby cut the two in front of her in half. After that she ran towards the west side of the facility to take them out. ' _14 down, 26 to go_.' She thought. Ruby screeched to a halt when she saw two lines of soldiers a few meters in front her, rifles and pistols at the ready.

There was only 18 soldiers there, meaning 8 of them were still around. She heard one of them yell "fire" before the two lines started shooting. She used her Semblance to bob and weave past the bullets, getting her scythe ready for the kill. Appearing next to the front line of soldiers, she got her scythe ready and propelled herself forward. In an instant, the first row of soldiers had their heads cut clean off. She did it again to the second row, only killing two and grazing three others.

Those that evaded her in time ran for their lives, only to be shot down by Ruby. The three injured tried to flee, but only one of them evaded another swing from Ruby's weapon. She pinned him down with her foot before noticing the last 8 were running toward her with shotguns. One fired a slug shot, making her backflip in the air and slashed her scythe downwards.

After impaling the injured soldier to the ground, she aimed at the 8 idiots and fired. She got 6 of them before the other 2 closed the gap between them. Ruby pulled the blade out of the ground and did a horizontal slash on the soldier to her left. She rested the scythe on the last ones shoulder, making him drop his gun and putting his arms up.

"Wait! I surrender. I surren-" Ruby fired Crescent Rose, cutting off his sentence. The blade of her weapon went through the right side of his neck to below his left arm. She turned to her right from the recoil, striking an unintentional pose. After a few seconds of silence, Ruby heard something behind her and aimed Crescent Rose to whatever she heard. For once, she hesitated.

A member of the White Fang, no older than 15, was only armed with a pistol and a white, cylinder shaped container. Ruby stopped aiming at the boy and reverted Crescent Rose to it's idol mode.

"Please! Spare me!" The boy said instinctively.

"It's okay. I won't hurt you. Even if you tried to shoot me." Ruby said in a sympathetic tone. She couldn't just murder him in cold blood. He was still young, still had better choices to make. "If you don't mind me asking, what's in that container?" The boy held up the cylinder for Ruby to confirm it. She nodded.

"It's a message to Grimoire's secret organization. He told me to go to a specific place, certain someone, stuff like that. That was all he told me." The boy said, a bit nervous. Ruby was surprised to hear that Grimoire was in another organization.

"Thank you for telling me." Ruby and the boy just stood still for a second. "You can go now." The boy snapped out of his trance and headed to the gate. "I hope we meet again in a better place."

"Same here." He said before sprinting toward the gate. Ruby walked to the courtyard and headed to the small building in the north end of the facility. When she was a few meters in front of the building, a White Fang soldier kicked the door open and got a sword ready. Grimoire followed behind him, his ax-shotgun in hand. Ruby transformed Crescent Rose onto rifle mode and aimed it at the pair of bad guys.

"Come on. We can take her Grimoire." The soldier said.

"Have you seen around yourself lately? A lot of your friends-" Grimoire tried to say before the guard interrupted him.

"Yeah. But, we'll beat her. A soldier and a huntsman, we'll do it." The soldier kept his confident act up.

"I'd rather talk to her instead of getting involved." Grimoire said that as though he had nothing to do with what happened. Ruby became even more furious with him.

"Come on, Grimoire. Us White Fang need to-" Grimoire struck the soldier right on top of his head, killing him instantly. Ruby was startled when this happened, thinking Grimoire might actually be a psychopath. He then proceeded to get his weapon out of his victim's head and stared down Ruby, making her tense up.

"I'm not officially with the White Fang or with Cinder. I have been considered as an associate, even though my organization wishes to rip out the White Fang from it's roots." Ruby thought for a minute before coming to the most logical conclusion she can think of, what with him hitting her and what not.

"You're a spy?" Ruby said before Grimoire nodded. "Do you know what they do to innocent children?" Her statement was filled with venom, not phasing him.

"They never told me. I've been in the dark with their 'special activities'." With that, Ruby transformed her weapon to idol mode. "Ruby, what was it that they did?"

"They kidnapped innocent children and killed them since they were human. The worst part is, they hid their bodies in the floor boards." Ruby was crying at this point. She was surprised to see that Grimoire looked to the ground in sadness.

"If only I had known. My organization wouldn't tolerate it on humans or Faunus alike. The White Fang will definitely bleed for this!" Grimoire was furious beyond belief, confirming that he does have a heart.

"That sound very kind of you. But why stay hidden?"

"Our organization could be looked down upon on the four kingdoms, especially for it being a little more advanced than the SDC and Atlas combined. We only waited for the next big conflict, were it not for a major setback. The organization has a leader that everyone respects, even the worst of it likes him to a certain degree." Ruby couldn't help but listen to what he was saying. "Our leader went missing in White Fang territory about seven months ago. Without him, we haven't been able to come up with a solid plan on how to deal with this new threat. He's been missing ever since, most likely still in their custody. He has an extremely useful weapon and a very dangerous power.

"The reason that he may not have used it is either how dangerous it is or from a huge amount of anti-Dust going somewhere. I have been a spy in White Fang ranks for five months, the trail now being cold. I'll need to go soon to continue my search else where. If you have any questions, please ask away." Grimoire went over to some crates and sat on them.

"Do you know where Jaune, Nora, and Ren are?"

"They followed some White Fang outposts toward Mistral while we stayed close to Vale, actually going more toward Vacuo. They were guided in the wrong direction to find you, simply put. Do you wish to find them?"

"No. Haven doesn't matter to me anymore. I need to end Cinder's life and soon. She needs to pay for what happened in Vale."

"I'd hold off on that if I were you. She far surpasses you in skill and power. You would end up like Pyrrha if you go after her now, if you can evade the hundreds of Grimm."

"Shit!" Ruby slammed her fist on the nearest wall. "What the hell am I supposed to do!?"

"Take huntsman bounties and kill some White Fang for about... four years." Ruby looked at Grimoire with confusion. "Cinder's going to 'thaw' out the dragon when she's fully recovered. Apparently, you freezing her took a lot out of her. She just wanted to make sure she can use her full power. Any more questions?"

"How much Anti-Dust have they made so far?"

"About 14 ounces of it remains. We did have about 20 ounces by the time I got there, but it seemed to be going to an undisclosed location. We- They've almost run out of the materials for it since they're only available on the north-western continent, which is teaming with Grimm.

"What's the stability of the kingdoms so far?"

"I can only guess that it going to get a lot worse before it gets better. Luckily, a new CCT should be up and running in about a year or two. This time it'll be heavily guarded from anyone or anything. So in other words, we have no idea how the other kingdoms are faring at the time. Anything else?"

"How advanced is your organization?"

"We are only a year ahead of Atlas and the SDC as a whole, except for one area. We have a stable space program and even launched some satellites in orbit." Ruby was dumbfounded to hear that. "The satellites don't last long, which was intended. Most often or not, we send them into the north-western continent for fun." They both laughed at the idea of some Grimm getting hit by a satellite out of the blue.

"What's your Semblance?"

"I am able to see into the future for a maximum of one minute." Ruby's mouth was agape knowing that someone can see that far into the future. No one would be able to stop him. "If my opponents are weak enough, then it'll show me what they will do. However, if I feel I'm outmatched, then it'll show me of what they might do." And now she was disappointed.

"Do you know why Cinder did this?" She knew it was very unlikely, but she gave it a shot.

"As a matter a fact, yes." Ruby thought she was on a roll today. "There were witnesses in Haven that saw Cinder with another person by the name of Salem. Looking all over Cinder's old room, I did find her diary turned journal, which she probably hid to keep it as reminder or a grand possession. It started out with her being anti-social and competitive to admiring Salem like a leader... or a god." Ruby thought that if Cinder saw this Salem person as a god, then Salem must be extraordinarily powerful to have that image. "She believes that Salem is one of these Maidens, the Winter Maiden to be more specific. Do you know the story of the Four Maidens?"

"Yeah. Four maidens named after the seasons helped an old wizard who in turn gave them immense power as a gift, simply put." Ruby then realized what Grimoire was saying. "These Maidens exist? That story's real!?" Ruby now wished she wasn't part of whatever this was now.

"It seems to be that way, yes. If Cinder's boasts are real, then that would mean she has become the new Fall Maiden. That also means that one Maiden has gone rogue while the other is using it's good powers for evil things, simply put. Either way, I personally wish to not endure what she has plnned. Anything else to ask?" Ruby was horrified at the realization that she may need to fight two Maidens done the road. She felt lost. Ruby wanted to take her revenge on every bad thing in the world, but didn't want to go up against powerful foes like rogue Maidens. Looking to the ground, she asked the most simple yet conflicting question in her mind.

"What do I do now?" Grimoire walked up to her and grabbed her shoulders to comfort her as best he could.

"Ruby, this might seem impossible to you, but it's anything but that. You have four years and some odd months before the dragon is free once again, giving you ample time to train and surpass Cinder. You may not be a Maiden, but you are a silver eyed warrior. Tapping into that strength alone will be enough to take out hundreds, even thousands of Grimm. The Maidens may be powerhouses, but they still need plenty of skill to surpass you. Cinder is confident she can beat anyone, making that her weakness. If you can master your own skill and power, then you can beat her.

"That is why the Maidens became a thing of legend, because they can be beat. Cinder is no different. If you wish to find Jaune and the others, then do so. If you want to try and gather your old team, then do it. There is no shame in doing it with a team, but I think it would be best to kill her on your own since you'll go done a path of vengeance. I won't tell you to go down the right path, but do the right thing and train between now and whenever the dragon is free." Grimoire knelt down to face Ruby.

"Never lose faith in your own abilities! Do the best you can and end both Cinder and that accursed creature, forever! Never give up on this goal of revenge, but never lose your heart along the way." Grimoire stood up and put his arms around his back. "Anything else you would like to ask?" He said with a smile.

Ruby had tears streaming down her face, knowing that two people believed she could do it. She steeled herself and wiped away the tears, giving Grimoire a smile of her own. "No. I'm good."

"Good. Then I shall be off-" Grimoire was interrupted by his scroll going off. He looked at it and couldn't help but laugh a bit from it's timing. "The second message on here says that I'm an asshole for giving Cinder my resignation from the White Fang, while the first message has the time of when the dragon will thaw out." Ruby looked at his scroll to see the message.

 _The Grimm Dragon will thaw out in:_

 _4 years:5 months:0 days:0 minutes:0 seconds_

"Go figure." Ruby said.

"Indeed. Anyway, here's another scroll with the timer on it as another application. Only I have the number for it. Keep it if you want, I honestly don't give a damn." Ruby rook the scroll and put it in her pouch. "Well, I should be going." Grimoire picked up some bags from the small building before heading toward the gate."Good luck with your quest, and farewell." Grimoire said as he left.

"Take care." Ruby said as they waved at each other. She forgave him for what he had done to her as it was all an act. Ruby headed toward the gate as well, catching one last glimpse at Grimoire. When he was out of sight, Ruby felt anger coming up from somewhere.

' _Farewell.'_ Something about that word made her feel angry. She tried to remember where she heard it before, figuring out why she felt rage building within. Then it dawned on her. It was the same word that Grimoire said to Juane before being kidnapped by the White Fang. This was the point her life changed forever. Misery. Torture. Grievance. The loss of so many kids. They will never be able to change the world, for better or for worse. And it all pinpointed to Cinder, the mastermind behind their want to exterminate human society.

' _This is all Cinder's fault, even if Salem told her to do it. Jaune, Nora, and Ren are still trying to find me, Weiss is stuck in Atlas, Blake ran away, Yang's given up, Beacon is in shambles, and both Penny and Pyrrha are dead! This is all her fault, Maiden or no.'_ Ruby put her hood over her head and walked to the closest village. "I will have my revenge on Cinder. On Salem. On the whole damn world if I need to. This cruel world will be safe, I swear it."

Somewhere else, a guy in full, gray body armor was sitting in a cell, looking out the barred window. He looked to his left to see someone at the cell door holding a plate of decent looking food. He walked over to it and grabbed it without uttering a word.

"How do you feel?" A girl in a dark blue dress with neon green outlines on it said. She had tanned skin, brown hair, aqua eyes, and teal bows in her hair. The man didn't say anything. She decided to leave him alone, knowing he wasn't going to talk to her. The man removed the mouth piece of his mask to eat. He looked to the window again, hoping to get out of this place.

"Several months in White Fang custody and no word from Grimoire. I hope I can get out of here before he arrives. Wouldn't like to give him the pleasure of having him rescue me." He then ate his food, deciding on the name for his organization. The best one to come to mind is the Inquisition of Remnant.

* * *

Well, that was fun. Hoped you guys enjoyed it. For those who might be curious as to why I didn't have a lot of time with JN_R is because it's all about Ruby and other major characters she'll meet. If this seems a bit long, it's because I honestly wanted to put in the whole arc like thing in one chapter to get it over with. I also saw that, although the time skip would be a good place to stop, it was under the minimum of words I have chosen (5,000 being my minimum, but before time skip was 3,500 words). These are my preferred looks for the two OCs, but you can think of your own if you so wish. With appearances on Grimoire, basically he looks like Nobody Ansem from Kingdom Hearts 2, specifically. The armor of the leader of the secret organization looks like the armor of foot soldiers in Metal Gear Rising Reveangence, but instead has a full helmet instead of a big visor on the front of his face. Hope you guys enjoyed it and I'll see you in Chapter 2.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: It's official. This is now the most popular story that I have written. Anyway, we have a time skip because I want to have one. I will definitely have a flash back in this chapter and a maybe a flash back chapter if you guys need more info within the time skip. Before we get to the chapter...

Disclaimer: RWBY is owned by Rooster teeth and created by the late Monyreak "Monty" Oum. There will be gore and coarse language in this. Nudity: allowed, but not detailed explicitly. Just "so and so" is naked, that's it.

Now, let's get this show on the road.

* * *

 **Chapter 2: Collecting bounties and allies**

It's been four years ever since Ruby started her lone quest for vengeance. In those four years she needed to change her outfit a few times to fit her comfortably. It was practically the same with the edition of a few extra string around the abdomen area of her outfit and her combat skirt being a little bit longer. Around her waist was the old item and ammo pouches as well as some additional ammo pouches of various Dust ammunition and her personal money pouch. Overall, Ruby looked practically the same barring her increased height of 4 inches and the extra ammo around her waist. Her hair was almost completely black except for the faint red highlights still in her hair. Although no one could see it, she had become strong to handle herself in close quarters combat.

She was walking toward another village a few miles away from the city of Vale. Over the years she had collected bounties for criminals, bandit hideouts, and Grimm infestations around the villages. Ruby was hoping to take a break from doing any bounties for three days straight. It was around noon when she arrived at the front gate when someone on watch called to her.

"What's your business here?" The village guard said.

"Just looking for someplace to relax for the day." Ruby responded.

"You a huntress?"

"What gave it away?"

"The weapon on your back as well as the ammunition." He pointed to the folded up weapon and the ammo pouches along her waist.

"Ya got me. I'm a huntress." She gave the guard a polite bow for dramatic affect.

"Wait there." The guard then disappeared somewhere. Ruby thought that he probably went to the person in charge or any superior for her to enter. He returned a few minutes later. "Come on in, but no funny business."

"You got it." She then headed into the village and tried to find any sort of tavern there. It seemed to have the same design as most other villages with markets and such around the entrances, housings next to said markets and finally the leader of said village's house in a secluded corner. Unlike the villages of old, these one's had some modern technologies and some even had motels in them. One of the first things she noticed upon entering the village was a bounty board that was mostly empty and having low rewards for pretty easy jobs. Most villagers had greeted Ruby when she walked by while other just had faces of concern and fear.

Although she technically isn't a huntress, her knowledge and skill could tell people otherwise without asking for her permit and such. Ruby was about to head into the tavern of the village when she noticed two people, a man and a woman, rush past her in what seemed like a worried frenzy. They held a paper with words scribbled on it and a picture of someone on it. She couldn't make it out when she turned around, but didn't want to pry on it for now, especially since they seemed to be going to the bounty board.

Coming up to the tavern, a sign read "Desmond's Grill & Bar". Entering the tavern, she noticed that it wasn't very busy at the time since it only had ten customers in it. What also caught her eye was the fact that they also had food with there drinks. _'Good thing too. I haven't eaten anything since breakfast, if a handful of berries can count as breakfast.'_ She sat down at the counter and waited patiently for a waiter to show up for her order. A man of with black hair, green eyes, and a green waiter outfit walked over to Ruby for her order.

"What do you want?" The waiter asked.

"Can I get a cheeseburger with some onion rings and some beer?" She asked.

"Aren't you little too young for alcohol?" Ruby then produced twice the amount of liens for her meal.

"Aren't you a little too old to be asking stupid questions?" She slid the liens closer to the waiter before he took them.

"Hm, not suppose to do this, but I'll let it slide." He took half of the lien and put it in his pocket. He then went to the kitchen to have Ruby's order made. As she waited, she noticed the couple again, this time with no paper and tears streaming down their faces. Ruby decided that after lunch she would go to the bounty board for whoever went missing.

"Here's your food." The waiter said before putting a plate of food in front of Ruby as well as a medium glass of beer. "Enjoy."

"Thank you!" Ruby said as he left. She took her time eating her food since she knew it would be a long day for her. She couldn't stop thinking about the couple a few minutes ago, even when she tried to enjoy her food. Whatever made them upset had to be something precious to them. After eating, she headed to the bounty board for the couples bounty. Ruby stood in front of the bounty board with dread, knowing she won't get a break today. She scanned the bounty board, finding it immediately. Reading it, she was shocked to see who went missing. It read:

 _Missing_

 _Age: 8_

 _Gender: Female_

 _Last seen at the edge of the Grimm infested forest. For more information, go to the Fredrick home, near the area she was last seen._

It showed a drawn picture of a little girl, smiling like nothing is wrong. This broke Ruby's heart knowing that this family might lose their daughter to the Grimm. Steeling herself, she took the paper and went to the house that it vaguely said it would be at. She asked around for the family's house and was directed to the second house toward the other gate leading outside. Going to the front of the house, she was worried if they would except the help of an unofficial huntress.

Ruby went to the front door, knocked on it, and waited for an answer. She went through many ways this would start and end. Either way, she was going to save that little girl one way or another. The door opened and Ruby just froze in place from it suddenly opening. She saw a woman with brown hair, brown eyes, and an aqua dress with a dark blue overcoat. When she looked Ruby in the eyes, Ruby thought that she would slam the door in her face out of fear at first. Before Ruby could speak, the woman just gave her a hug and cried into Ruby's shoulder.

"Thank you for coming." The woman said in a quivering voice.

"I-it's alright. I'm here now." Ruby said with sympathy. She was at first surprised that the woman was suddenly hugging her, but then returned the hug to comfort the grieving mother.

"Thank you for coming to our aid." A man said being the mother. He had brown hair, blue eyes, and wore a red t-shirt with some light brown cargo pants. "We didn't know what to do at first to find her. But, me and my wife decided that putting a missing poster on the board would at least grab someone's attention."

"Don't worry. It's my job to help people, and I'll try my best to find your daughter. My names Ruby, by the way." Ruby held out her hand for the man to shake it since the woman still had her in a tight embrace. He took Ruby's hand and shook it before grabbing his wife away from Ruby.

"My names Travis. This is Martha." He said as he held onto his still crying wife to make sure she doesn't fall onto the floor. "Our daughter means the world to us. It would crush us to never see her again."

"I understand, which is why I won't stop until I find her."

"Thank you. Please take a seat." Martha said, motioning to chair right next to her. The parents went to the couch while Ruby went to the chair Martha motioned to.

"All right, can you tell me anything about her? What's her name?" Ruby asked so she can get their child back as soon as possible.

"Her name is Susan, named after her grandmother. Martha here has a tight connection to her since she's our only child. Susan always wanted to be outside, so we would always spend some time outside of the wall for her. Sometime this morning, around 8 or 9, we went out again since Susan was really eager to go out." Travis said as Ruby just listened to him carefully.

"We saw Susan chase after a butterfly before we looked at each other. We thought she would know better, but when we looked back, she was gone!" Martha sobbed as they described their carelessness for their only child. "It's all our fault!" Martha cried into her husband chest as Travis tried to comfort her. Ruby was fighting back some tears of her own as they told her what happened to their daughter. After Ruby calmed down a bit, she stood up and looked at the couple with sympathy and determination.

"Can you show me where you lost her?" Ruby asked.. Since they wanted to get their daughter back as well, they nodded and made their way toward the gate. The couple went to the gate and asked the guard if they can leave for a minute. The guard complied and opened the gate for the couple and the huntress. The group then went to a small patch of flowers that's really close to the woods.

"We came here since the flowers were in bloom by yesterday. Susan might've went into the woods either chasing the butterfly or to just explore in there." Travis said, trying to hold back tears. "Think you can track her down?"

"Yeah. She couldn't have gotten too far in the woods if she actually looked at the scenery. I'll be sure to bring Susan back in one piece." Ruby said. She was about to run into the woods, but was stopped by Martha's hand on her shoulder. Ruby looked behind her and saw tears forming on Martha's eyes.

"Please, bring her back even if... even if she's-!" Martha tried to say before Ruby stopped her.

"Don't think like that. I will bring her back alive." Ruby said with determination. She then ran into the woods and looked for any signs of where Susan might've went. She kept going straight forward for more signs of where she may be at. After 10 minutes of searching, she saw a small footprint in the dirt. ' _Alright, I'm on the right track. Should get to her in no-'_ Ruby just looked in horror when she saw a giant paw print. Snapping out of her daze, she quickly examined it to find out which Grimm it was. ' _A Beowolf, from the looks of it.'_ Looking up, she saw both sets of prints going straight in front of her. Some of the trees in front of her had scratch marks on them, most likely from the Beowolf trying to get her. "I need to hurry." Ruby said before using her Semblance to go in the direction of the footprints and path of destruction.

2 hours of searching was not what Ruby wanted to do for the day. In fact, she thought that the search would last for an hour, at most. ' _How far did this girl run? And how did she not tire out?!'_ She thought as she continued in a relatively straight line. Although, she kept up a brisk pace to not miss anything of value, it was still baffling her how a little girl could keep going for more than an hour. Ruby was about to keep going when she saw a nook in one of the trees. She quickly dashed toward it and checked to see what was in it. Examining it, she noticed that there seemed to be evidence of something, or someone, that rested in it not too long ago. Then, an epiphany struck Ruby like a bus running in to her.

"She must have found nooks every now and then when she felt tired. But what about the Grimm?" She looked around the outside of the nook to find out why the Grimm wouldn't just get her while she rested. Some sort of smell hit her hard, almost making her gag from it's intensity. "Oh, GOD! What's that smell!?" She had to cover her nose just not pass out from the smell. What's weird was that she was getting use to it very quickly. Some growling close to made her turn to it and reach for her weapon, only to notice a Grimm Beowolf at a distance just standing there. "Wait, what?" It looked like it really wanted to get her, but when it tried to get close it would recoil back from something. After two more attempts, it swiped at it nose, like something was agitating the Beowolf's nose.

"Oh, wow! These plants must give off a smell that really agitates an animals sense of smell. But how long will it last?" Her answer was almost immediate as the Grimm charged at her and tried to gut her in one swipe. A jump and a decapitation later, the Grimm's body evaporated in to dark smoke. After her swing, Ruby immediately looked around for more tracks of the little girl. After finding them still heading toward the direction she was going, she used her Semblance and followed the destroyed trees and foliage. _'Gotta find her, and fast.'_ She thought as she continued dashed to the end of the new path.

"It's been an hour since I checked that nook and still only finding tracks and destroyed plant life." Ruby said, still not believing that a little girl could travel this much in a few hours, being smaller and weaker. "Where the fuck is she!?" She kept going and going until it suddenly stopped. Ruby was about to blow a casket from this search. "Why did it just stop? What the fuck happened!?" She asked furiously from this sudden stop. A quick look of the area looked revealed little, except a spot of dirt with an indent of a Beowolf. The middle of the indent had a broken stump with it being sharp at the top of it. "Good, Beowolf must've impaled itself by accident trying to get Susan."

Looking around, she noticed small human foot prints going to her right, as well as small drops of blood every few foot steps. "Shit. She seemed to have been walking- No, limping somewhere, maybe heading home without a sense of direction." She said, trying not to freak out that the girl was probably bleeding to death from a small cut. "At least they look recent, maybe 20 minutes ago." She bolted to the direction of where Susan might've gone without using her Semblence this time. After running a few feet ahead, she heard faint screams in the distance. Immediately, both joy and her Semblance practically exploded from hearing those screams. Ruby was nearing a field when she heard both growls and a little girl screaming her lungs out.

As soon as she entered the field, she looked to her left to see the little girl. She had brown eyes, dark blonde hair, and wore a yellow dress with long sleeves as well as some leather boots. As soon as Ruby saw the child, she looked in front of her to see what she was up against. She had to come to a screeching halt when she saw the 5 dozen Grimm of all kinds, from the common Beowolf to the rare giant Stalker. Ruby immediately got Crescent Rose out for battle. "About 60 Grimm here, some armored, others normal. This is definitely a challenge I'll take."

"Can we go home now?" Susan said as she saw the huntress ready to fight. A Beowolf charged at Ruby and tried to attack her, but had it blocked by her weapon.

"Don't worry, once I take care of these Grimm, I'll bring you back to your parents." Ruby said, struggling to keep the Grimm at bay. After pushing the Beowolf's claw away, she cut the Grimm in half before it could attack her again. After it dissipated into smoke, she aimed behind her, making sure she won't hit Susan, and ran forward before firing her weapon. As soon as Ruby got to the wall of Grimm, she did a horizontal slash and killed 2 more Beowolfs and an Ursa. After that, it was really a blur to Susan and herself to some extent.

Basically, when Ruby fights a bunch of Grimm or people, everything she remembers in the fight is a bit fuzzy, remembering only some of the best and creative kills in each fight. Susan was just awestruck from the speed of the huntress and the number of Grimm she's killing. After a few minutes of hacking and cutting down Grimm, Ruby saw some of the stragglers trying to run away. Out of the 60 or so Grimm that was in the field, only 10 were left to run.

The fight seemed to be over until the remaining Grimm noticed just how tired the Red Reaper was. On one knee and panting heavily, Ruby was pretty much out of energy from running in the woods for a few hours and a fight that took all of her strength to almost finish. The remaining Grimm were giant Stalkers and advanced version of Beowolfs, Ursas, and Boarbatusks. Ruby was getting pissed over the Grimm not leaving, which drew in more Grimm to the open field. On the brink of collapsing from exhaustion, she forced herself up, determined to get Susan back to her parents.

 _'The sun's setting and I'm running out of ideas. Better unleash my full potential.'_ She thought as she focused more on her Aura. The Grimm seemed confused at first, but 3 normal Beowolfs decided to take the opportunity to charge at her and try to kill their prey. As soon as they jumped into the air to attack the red huntress, Ruby opened her eyes to reveal white glowing eyes and an aura surrounding her weapon. In one swipe, Ruby effortlessly decapitated the 3 young Beowolfs, holding Crescent Rose with one hand. Susan and the Grimm were absolutely dumbfounded by Ruby's feat. Before the Grimm could recover from their dazed state, Ruby was already dashing toward them with rose petals and white energy behind her.

To Susan, the huntress was only a blur of white light and red rose petals. Dashing around the Grimm, Ruby amputated and decapitated every normal Grimm with relative ease and the armored ones after a few strikes from her blade. Soon, only 1 lonely Beowolf Alpha was left standing in front of the red hooded huntress. The Grimm looked around, seeing some of it's fellow beasts dissipate into smoke. It then just looked at Ruby again, who was in her normal state at the time.

"Run." Was all Ruby said before the Grimm bolted to the forest, back to it's nest. After she lost sight of the Grimm, Ruby relaxed and headed toward Susan. When she got to the little girl, Ruby put Crescent Rose away and knelt down to her level. "Hello. My names Ruby. I'm here to take you home." She said as she did a look over to make sure the girl wasn't seriously hurt.

"Hi. I'm Susan." Susan said in a dumbfounded state. "You're really good at fighting."

"I know. I am pretty cool."

"Pretty cool!? You're really cool, Miss Ruby!"

"Please, just Ruby. 'Miss' seems a little too much for someone like me." Ruby took a look at Susan's legs to find a small cut on her right shin. "Does it hurt?"

"Wha- Oh, just a little. Can you please carry me home?" Susan was a bit hesitant with the question, but decided to ask anyway.

"Sure. After using my full power, I feel a bit rejuvenated for this." Ruby picked up the girl and started sprinting to the village, trying not to use her full speed. "If your wandering if I'll be tired, Susan, don't worry. I can keep up this pace for a few hours." Ruby had to speak up when she heard only wind. After an hour of running, Ruby needed to take a break from this trek back to the village.

"Okay... I may have used... more energy than I thought... from that fight." Ruby said as she tried to breath in between pauses. Luckily, the two girls were near the nook that Ruby found while finding Susan. Carefully, Ruby put Susan in the nook and leaned on the tree to try and regain her stamina, for a short time. "Once I catch my breath, we'll go ahead and continue toward the village, okay?" Susan nodded, but she knew that her savior needed to do more than catch her breath in order to go home in one sprint.

"Hey, Ruby. Can you tell me how you got you're powers?"

"Got them when they were unlocked during combat school." Susan sighed with unsatisfactory when she heard that short answer.

"I'm not that dumb. I know that huntsman have only one super power only. When more Grimm showed up, you used another super power instead of just you're first one." This statement actually surprised Ruby. At first, it was the little girl calling herself stupid, but was really surprised when she started talking about huntsman having only one Semblance. Ruby smiled and sat down near the nook entrance to talk to Susan.

"You're right. A huntsman or huntress has only one Semblance unique to them, mine being speed. But I'm a unique case where I have a sort Aura boost, affecting me and whatever I want it to affect as well. How I was able to unlock could take a while to explain."

"I can wait. Mom and Dad will understand." With that, Ruby prepared herself for those memories to come back.

"At first, it started out as sudden emotional bursts, mainly rage. Four years ago, at the Battle of Vale, it happened when I lost a friend that was really close to me. Didn't remember how I did or what it was. After I was kidnapped and escaped my captors, I tried unleashing it through normal means with no luck. Two years ago, I was at a village that was miles away from Vale, practically living right next to some Grimm nests." Susan just sat still, no words, no sounds, and with full concentration.

"When I was there, people gave me some mean looks. I could tell immediately that no one liked me since I was a huntress. Every now and then, they'd throw rocks at me or would call me names like 'murderer' or 'government dog'. Even with such harsh punishments, I was able to stay there for a week before moving on. A day before leaving, a bunch of Grimm attacked the village. They really handled themselves well, until more powerful Grimm started to show up."

 _It was pouring down with rain during the entire attack. Some believed God sent an omen of bad luck, others believed it was because of the huntress who arrived. Ruby was running toward the eastern entrance of the village since that was where the Grimm were mostly at. Near the entrance, she saw that most of the men and some women were fending off the Grimm very well, only having a few cuts and bruises every now and then. Ruby would have been proud of them were it not for one thing, they were angry. This much negative emotion was bound to bring in more Grimm, making the fight seem never-ending at this rate. Thankfully, all the Grimm that was at the entrance was killed without the help of Ruby._

" _Well, look who it is." One of the women defenders said as she spotted Ruby standing in the entrance way of the gate. "If it isn't the little bitch huntress." Ruby put her weapon away before heading to the angry crowd of defenders, wanting to kill the huntress._

" _Look, we don't have much before more show up. We need to-" Ruby was saying before being cut off by another defender._

" _Why should we listen to you!? You're probably the reason why they showed up in the first place." A furious male defender said._

" _Listen, us arguing is going to draw more Grimm this way. This much negative emotion is-" She was cut off again by someone else._

" _Oh, please. You're just saying that so we don't hurt your feelings anymore than they already are. What a bunch of bullshit." Another male defender said._

" _Please, for once just listen to me. If we continue bickering, then more of them will come."_

" _Liar! You want this place to be wiped from the face of Remnant!" Another defender said._

" _I don't want this village to be destroyed because it was me or I couldn't do it!" Ruby was starting to lose her composure, hearing only a bunch of faceless voices without names or origins._

" _Damn witch!"_

" _You brought this upon us on purpose!"_

" _Why don't you go back to the hole you came from."_

" _Leave you little whore!"_

" _You fucking bitch!" This one was the last insult Ruby could take._

" _Enough!" She said, loud enough for them to stop the insults. "You're all acting like fucking children! How about for once you focus on the Grimm rather than me! I didn't bring this on you! You brought it on yourselves because one huntress just wanted to help you guys!" At this point, Ruby was practically bawling over the people's hate against her. "At least you guys have more to lose than me." She was about to fall to her knees when the ground started to shake. It felt like giant footsteps from the short pause between shakes, and it was getting closer._

" _Why's the ground shaking?" A female defender asked._

" _Huntress, do you know what it is?" A male defender asked._

" _Oh, no." Ruby said._

" _What is it?"_

" _A Goliath." Ruby was absolutely terrified, as well as the defenders. Before anyone could respond, the Goliath roared before it everyone saw it in the heavy rain, like it appeared from thin air. Although it had some Stalkers with it, the Goliath just crushed them under it's enormous weight._

" _We need to close the gates now before it gets any closer." The leader of the defenders said._

" _It's charging!" Ruby yelled as she pointed toward the giant Grimm. It was only a few dozen meters away, but it was closing that gap quick. "Head to the village, now!" They all started running toward the open gate as the Goliath made it's way to the small village. Ruby stopped next to a gate guard to help anyone still outside._

" _Think you can get anyone in that hasn't made it yet?" The guard asked._

" _Pretty sure, yeah." Ruby just waited as everyone made it in. With no one outside, the guards and Ruby closed the gate as fast as they could. As she turned around, a little girl was standing a few feet from Ruby as she neared closer. The girl's name was Alex, as well as Ruby's only friend in the village, which made it easier for Ruby to stay in the village. Alex brought the huntress gifts and flowers so that Ruby knew she was a really nice child._

" _Hi, Ruby! Is everything okay out there?" Alex asked in a cheery mood, oblivious to the ground shaking more and more._

" _Alex! Run, get away from-" Ruby was about to run toward the little girl, but was interrupted by the gate exploding from the Goliath's force. A piece of the gate hit Ruby in the head, putting her in a daze. She was sent flying a couple yards away from the gate. After landing on the ground, all she could her was muffles of people freaking out that the Goliath made it past the gate. Ruby stood up, trying to get her bearings on her surroundings. "Where's Alex a-" She stopped mid-sentence after finding her friend._

 _Alex lied still on the ground with a piece of wood sticking out of her chest. Ruby just stood there, shocked that her one friend was dead, because of her. The Goliath had felt a sudden spike of negative emotion from somewhere. Looking in front of it, the only thing it saw was a little girl impaled by some wood and a pile of rose petals. Suddenly, the Goliath felt a small prick of pain on it's left cheek. Looking around, it couldn't find the human that did it and was very angry._

 _Ruby was in the air after it struck the Grimm in the cheek and did so again to try and agitate it. The Grimm swiped it's trunk to the left to try and hit the small huntress. Ruby just aimed her weapon down and fired to strike it's back. After that, the Goliath roared in pain and frustration. Ruby struck it a few more times in it's legs and torso. Just as the Goliath was going to hit Ruby, it stopped in mid swing as it saw a white aura surrounding the girl and her weapon. As Ruby kept cutting it up more and more, screaming in pure rage, the Goliath wanted to escape, but couldn't from Ruby's endless barrage of attacks._

" _YOU BASTARD!" Ruby screamed as she cut off it's trunk, sending the limb flying in the air. The Goliath roared in absolute pain as it's wounds started to burn and bleed. Ruby had lined herself up with the monster's spinal cord and fired the Crescent Rose to being cutting into it. Just she made contact with flesh, her white aura imbued the blade of her weapon, making it cut through until it reached the spinal cord. With one final push, Ruby cut right through the spine and flew past the Goliath's limp body. The giant Grimm fell over dead, dissipating into smoke. Ruby just fell to her knees, crying uncontrollably._

" _Ruby!" Alex's mother said, seeing the huntress on her knees. "Where's Alex?" Ruby just looked in the direction of where Alex's body was, having the mother look in the same direction. As everyone in the village looked over, they saw a little girl impaled by some of the gate. Alex's mother just ran to her dead daughter, screaming and crying as she made her way there. Ruby looked away and back at the ground._

" _It's all my fault." Ruby said, crying even more so._

" _What do ya mean?" A villager said._

" _I couldn't react fast enough. I couldn't save Alex. I was too slow. It's my fault she's dead!" Ruby then tried to hug herself instinctively. The some of the villagers gathered around Ruby to try and convince her there wasn't anything she could do, while the rest went to the grieving mother to try and comfort her._

"After that, I just left the next day after attending her funeral. Since then, I was able to summon it with enough concentration." She looked over to Susan who was crying from Ruby's story. "I know. I try not to think about it as much as I did during the first few weeks after my visit."

"I'm sorry I asked, Miss Ruby. I didn't know it would be that terrible." Susan said before getting hugged by Ruby. Surprised at first, Susan gave in and hugged her back.

"It's okay. Just calm down. It's okay." Ruby said, shushing gently to the child as she continued to cry. After a few minutes of crying, Susan was able to calm down to ask Ruby one more question.

"Do you still feel guilty about?" This question caught Ruby off guard since she never had a straight answer for it.

"To be honest, I'm not entirely sure. I don't try to think about it that much. I guess it scarred me that much." Ruby felt conflicted. She never really forgave herself for what happened to Alex, but she had nothing else to blame it on. Grimm were Grimm, that much is true, but they can't be blamed for everyone's death. Susan reached for Ruby's face to wipe away tears the huntress didn't know that she had. "Thanks." Ruby smiled to the little girl for her help.

"I don't think it was your fault. You did all that you could at the time, but it also helped in a weird way."

"Hm. Never really thought about it like that before." Ruby smiled and hugged Susan again for her words of wisdom, strangely enough. "You must be the smartest 8 year old in the whole world."

"I've been told that a lot of times. My parents say it must be from us living far away from Vale."

"Must be." Ruby looked in the sky, seeing that the sun was nearly gone, it's light starting to fade away for the day. "Come on, we can't keep your parents wait longer than they should."

"Okay!" Susan said cheerfully. Ruby picked up the girl and ran back towards the village. "Would it help if you used your... Semblance?" She said, trying to pronounce Semblance correctly.

"He- Uh, yeah it would. Hold on!" Ruby said as she went full speed, bracing Susan tighter so it didn't seem as intense. Susan at first screamed for her life at first, but started whooping and such after getting used to it a little bit. _'I can already tell, she will be a great person in the future.'_ Ruby thought, bobbing and weaving by trees and lone Grimm.

After a half hour of using her Semblance, Ruby just walked the rest of the way to the village. She found the road leading to the gate she used to begin her search for Susan, who was passed out in Ruby arms. The girl held on to Ruby's neck as her savior carried her like a mom would for her child. The torches on the gate was lit up from the near darkness outside of it protective walls. Ruby saw the torches from a few meters away where she was, happy that she made it back with the child in her arms.

"Susan, wake up." Ruby said as she moved the girl around to wake her up. The little girl woke up, a little groggy from her sudden wake up. "Look behind you." Susan complied and looked behind her, instantly cheering up as she saw her village closing in on the two girls.

"I'm home." Susan was able to say. As they approached the gate, the guard saw the two and instantly order some people to open the gate as well as get the Fredricks at once. As the gate opened, Susan's parents came rushing out of their house and gained speed as they saw the huntress carry their child.

"Can you walk?" Ruby asked as Susan just acknowledged without using words. She set Susan down as watched as Susan just ran toward them, with a small limp, but still ran. The reunited family embraced each other, crying with tears of joy after their ordeals. Most of everyone in the village, except the guards, went to see the family on their knees, hugging and crying for each other.

"Thank you so much, Ruby." Martha said, looking up to see the huntress' eyes.

"Don't mention it. I only did this cause it was the right thing to do." Ruby said, trying not to blush.

"Well, well, well. Look who 'saved' poor Susan." Said an old man. He had a crazy beard, was practically bold, and wore a yellow polo shirt with some jean overalls. He had a hunched back and used a wooden cane to hold himself up, limping towards Ruby.

"Grandpa, come on. Don't ruin the moment for these people." The owner from the small tavern grill, the same outfit as the waiter except a few pounds bigger, brown hair, green eyes, and a common mustache.

"You huntsman think that you can trick these people into thinking that you 'saved' a child? You should be ashamed of yourself!" The old man exclaimed.

"So... I'm guessing he doesn't like huntsman a whole lot, does he?" Ruby asked.

"Yeah. He always had some beef toward huntsman. Something that happened to his family when he was in his prime." Travis said.

"This is all the government's doing. They want their huntsman and huntresses to look good, so they cause bad things to happen as soon as they arrive." The old man said, defending his position of evil huntsman.

"Is that last part true?" Ruby asked, suspicious herself.

"No. Only you and someone from years ago. The reason for the guy from a few years ago was from him taking down a Grimm nest close by and that my old man never shuts up about him." The waiter said.

"Ah, thanks..."

"Desmond.

"Right. Thanks, Desmond."

"Don't talk to her! She'll probably send some government agents to-" The old man was cut off by Ruby in mid-sentence.

"Listen. 1. Huntsman and huntresses can do whatever they want after they graduate from their academies. 2. The only kingdom that ignores that is Atlas, not Vale. And 3. How could I do that if I never knew this place existed until I saw it?" Ruby said, trying to defend huntsman as a whole and herself. "Besides, I'm... technically not a huntress." She sheepishly said as everyone gasped as this revelation.

"More lies from the government."

"It's true, alright!?" Ruby looked around as she saw everyone, except Susan, with a surprised face. "I was attending Beacon Academy when it was overrun by Grimm. I've been training myself to fight the one responsible for that for the past four years. Were it not for Cinder Fall, I would be an official huntress after graduating this year. But now I won't because of her. I'm sorry I lied to you guys, it's just-" Before Ruby could finish, Martha hugged Ruby to try and calm her down from her crying fit.

"You didn't lie to us. We saw that you knew what you were doing and we accepted your help. You have nothing to be ashamed about." Martha said as the old coot just grunted.

"I'm heading home." He said as he limped home. Everyone just stood where they were, just happy that Susan was okay.

"Come on, let's celebrate while the night's still young. To the grill!" Desmond said as he went to the tavern and everyone followed him to it.

"Thank you for believing in me." Ruby said as she walked next to the Fredricks toward the tavern.

"Don't worry about it. For now, let's celebrate." Travis said, carrying Susan.

"What about her cuts?" Ruby asked as she pointed to the little girl.

"They're not that bad. A few band-aids and she should be fine." Martha said.

"Wait, what?"

"What's wrong?"

"Her cuts were deep enough that they bled. How did-" Ruby cut herself off as she saw that Susan's cut's were a lot better than they were a few hours ago. They weren't scabbed over, just smaller than before.

"We're not entirely sure, but it seems like Susan heals faster than most children. But that just makes her all the more special to us." Travis said as he ruffled up Susan's hair. Ruby thought for a minute and then just smiled, knowing exactly what Susan's condition is.

"Well, I wish you all well after I leave. Especially you, Susan." Ruby said as she rubbed the top of Susan's head. Susan giggled as Ruby rubbed her head, overall happy she got to know her savior more. ' _I'm sure you'll be a great huntress in the future. But, I'll keep it a secret for now.'_ Ruby thought as they walked into the tavern for a night of celebration. The party was fantastic, drinks ranging from soda to alcohol adults having the time of their live, kids in another room to talk and play games amongst themselves. All night, everyone just enjoyed themselves, especially Ruby.

After the party was coming to a close, Ruby said goodbye to the Fredricks and went to the motel to rest for the night. Ruby paid for a one night stay and headed to her room. She went in, seeing that it looked pretty decent for a village motel, and immediately locked the doors and closed the window shutters so no one could peak in. After that, Ruby stripped to nothing and headed for the shower. Turning it on, she couldn't feel any hot water and decided to wait a little bit. After a few minutes of nothing but cold water, she decided it wasn't worth it and went to bed instead. She set her scroll on the night stand next to her, leaving it on just in case Grimoire needed to call her.

Lying in her bed, Ruby wondered where she should go next. She could call Grimoire and ask him if he needed help with anything, but he would probably turn her down like he did the last few dozen times before. She still didn't want to go to Vale since she had no business there and that she felt like it wasn't a place for her anymore. After a lot of thinking, Ruby's exhaustion finally got the better of her and she now felt like she didn't sleep for days. Ruby rolled on her side and fell asleep seconds later without covering herself.

* * *

In a big White Fang base, Grimoire's boss was in the same cell for the past four years. He suffered through tortures and tried to escape multiple times, but to no avail. He heard someone coming, hoping that it was a guard with a key on him. ' _If I can't get out of here on my own, then maybe someone from outside can help.'_ The guard showed up with a tray of food and a key chain with a dozen or so keys. The White Fang guard just dropped the tray and kicked it in food slot at the bottom of the cell.

"Here's your food, you damn human. Be considered lucky we give you anything." The guard said as the fully armored prisoner got up and walked to the cell door. Even though the guard kept talking, the prisoner just tuned him out as he made his way to the self righteous guard. Reaching the cell door, the prisoner took the White Fang's collar and pulled him toward the door, ripping his collar and knocking out the guard in the process. The prisoner reached through the door and took the key chain from his guards belt.

"Took you bastards until midnight to get me my dinner. Your lucky I'm not hungry right now." He said as he got the keys from the unconscious guard. Looking through the keys, he found the one that closely resembled the inside of the lock to his cell. After unlocking the cell, he walked down the hall to reach communications. Unlike the bases that Ruby always hit, this one had some independent backing to make it a modern, infantry only military base. The prisoner he was being watched through the cameras, he always was. He just had to hurry over to the communication room before the lock down.

Just as he passed by the security room, some armored doors closed in front of him and behind him. Luckily, the security room he past was still accessible to him. Looking behind him, the prisoner had an idea that just might work. Going to the door, he listened closely to hear who was in the room. Since it was just a White Fang soldier, he slammed open the door and walked to the wanna-be soldier. The Faunus soldier turned around and tried to reach for his weapon, but got clocked in the face, knocking him out instantly. Turning to the door, he closed it and locked it so he had some more time.

"Alright, let's see if this'll work." The prisoner said as he reached for the unconscious soldier's scroll. Seeing the intercom system, he ripped off the panel and ripped out specific wires for his plan to work. He dismantled the scroll and connected the wires to the device. "Let's see. Put that one here and this one there and..." After an hour of meddling with the scroll, a screen in front of him had an overhead map of the base and a large amount of the area surrounding said base. "Alright, it worked. Now let's see what happens if I put in this number. There's no way Grimoire could be near-" He stopped in mid-sentence as he saw a signal in a nearby village. Completing the number, he found out it wasn't Grimoire.

"Who are you? Well, only one way to find out." He called the number using the scroll and having the screen come up when whoever answered. The prisoner heard some banging behind him, making him worry when they will get in. "Please, pick up already."

* * *

Ruby woke up after hearing her scroll go off in the middle of the night. Still groggy, she reached for the scroll and opened it. A screen came up with a man in full armor looking behind him. She heard some banging behind the man in armor as well as some indistinct voices.

"Hello?" Ruby said sleepily.

"Yeah you seem to be the- Oh, hell." The man said as he looked away from Ruby. She was confused at first until she looked at her self, still naked.

"Is this important, White Fang or otherwise?" Ruby said, making the man turn around immediately.

"Yes. My name is Jason Clarke. I'm currently in a White Fang equivalent of an infantry only military base. I'm being held prisoner here, only got out after a guard got close to my cell. Still a long story, but I can't get out of here on my own. I'll need your help, miss..."

"Ruby Rose is my name. Just call me Ruby."

"Heard a lot about you, what with you cutting down White Fang for 4 years. Pretty impressive, if you ask me." Ruby smiled from his compliment. At least someone appreciates her mass killing of White Fang. "Do you have map on you?"

"Hold on." Ruby said as she hurried over to her clothes. She found her map of Vale in one of the belt pouches. "Got it."

"Okay, do you see the village you're in?" Ruby looked at her map, finding the name of the village she was in. Finding it, she nodded to her scroll. "Good. Let's see here... Do you see a large circular area southeast of the village?" She checked the map, finding several circular areas in that direction. Her eyes went wide, when she found a huge circle on her map.

"Holy shit. I think I found your area."

"Good. The base itself is about as big as the village and should be in the center of that area."

"Makes sense. My map is pretty old."

"Figured as much. The White Fang built it to keep really dangerous huntsman like me in here. Make your way over here whenever, since I'll turn myself in again when the doors go down."

"That bad, huh?"

"Yeah. Anyway, I do hope we meet each other on better circumstances and you with some clothes on." Ruby giggled as she covered her chest with one arm.

"Would've done it sooner if I knew you were looking." Jason grunted as he looked away in shame. The bangs behind him got louder, the door starting to cave inward. "Whatever they're using must be pretty strong."

"Probably." He looked to the unconscious guard and back to the door a few times before he responded with, "Screw it. I'll make it a little harder on them." He grabbed a pistol off the guard and aimed it at the door.

"Heh. I used a pocket knife to get out of my prison."

"Interesting. Tell me more when we meet again." The door slammed open again with White Fang entering the room with melee weapons. Jason shot the first 4 that entered before he was shot back. One of the bullets hit the scroll, taking out the video part of the communication.

"Damn it." Ruby said before hearing more gunfire from the scroll. "Oh, audio's still going." After a minutes of gunfire, the audio sounded dead silent. "I hope he's okay."

"He's most definitely okay." Jason said. "Two way audio still works."

"Trying to escape again, I see." A woman's voice said.

"Oh, Seris. Didn't see you there."

"Please, put that gun away. You won't accomplish anything with that."

"Why not a few shots? Not like it'll kill you." Clicks were heard from the scroll. "Well, shit."

"Shall we head back to your cell?"

"Yeah, sure. Not like I can do anything to you with my bare hands and your **persuasive** words." Ruby was actually confused until she thought of Seris' possible Semblance. Still not entirely sure what, persuasion must be related in some way.

"Well, let's go back while you're still sane." Ruby heard a grunt from Jason followed by some footsteps. "A broken scroll hooked up to our intercom system. Think he was able to contact someone?"

"The intercom is connected to communications, so there's that." A White Fang soldier said. The huntress named Seris walked closer to the scroll from the sound of high heel clicks getting louder.

"Well, at least whoever was listening doesn't know if he's alive."

"The scroll's actually half broken, by the way." Ruby said, hearing more clicks from her scroll. "Also, it's gonna be more easy for me to beat you with those lady stilts."

"We'll see about that, Ruby." Seris said as she fire her weapon, cutting off the audio. Ruby giggled confidently as she went back to bed, covering herself with the blanket as the coldness of the room really kicked in. She then dreamed of seeing everyone happy after Cinder passed away, counting this as the tenth time she had this for the past 2 years.

In the morning, Ruby had taken a shower with warm water since she slept in her own filth for the past 2 days. After her shower, she grabbed a robe and headed to the laundry room, careful to not let it fall off her or to accidentally show more than she wanted. Her clothes took 40 minutes to be cleaned in the washer and dryer. She headed back to the her apartment, got dressed, and headed out to the direction of the White Fang base Jason Clarke is in, which was the same direction that she entered the first time in the village.

A bunch of the villagers saw her out, hugging and waving at her as she left. The Fredricks were the last one to see her out, thanking her over and over again for making their family whole once more. The gates opened as she was done saying goodbye, heading out of the village and to her new destination. After a few minutes of walking, her scroll went off, knowing exactly who it was.

"This is Ruby, Grimoire. What is it?" Ruby asked when she answered it.

"Hm. That predictable?" Grimoire asked.

"Pretty much, yeah."

"Well, I called because I think I have a lead on where my boss is."

"Do tell."

"I think he's near Vale, east of it actually. It could be a White Fang base that had some independent backing to make for the past few years. They're military in terms of structure and function, but are more accommodating for people not fully accustomed to military life. The problem is that, since there are a lot to the east of Vale, it's impossible to pinpoint his location exactly."

"Interesting. Where are you, exactly?"

"I'm stuck in the Vacuo airport. I booked a flight to Vale, but it keeps being delayed."

"Well, I'm on my way to a White Fang base that is holding a Jason Clarke as prisoner after he contacted me."

"Wait, he contacted you? When were you going to tell me this!?"

"I didn't think it was that big of deal at the time. Anyway, can you get a lock on my location with one of your satellites?"

"Of course."

"Go ahead and keep me locked on, I'll be at the base in a day or so."

"Alright, will do. At this rate, I'll be in Vale in a few days, so do try not to get both you and our potential Inquisitor killed."

"'Potential', eh? Good Inquisitor or bad Inquisitor?" Ruby knew that Inquisitors of the past had malicious intents within their inquisitions. Hopefully, she wasn't dealing with a bad Inquisitor.

"It'll be bad for the White Fang and Cinder, but really good towards the people of all 4 kingdoms. Is that a good answer?" Ruby laughed after his response.

"That sounds pretty clear to me."

"Good, take care now."

"Talk to you later Grimoire." Ruby hung up first, leaving herself alone once more in the forest. ' _I just hope they don't kill Jason before I get there.'_ She sped up her walking speed to try and get there sooner while still keeping calm during her trek to the base. ' _Hang in there Jason, I'll be there soon.'_

* * *

Woohoo, got through Chapter 2. Now I can focus on a new fanfic that I'll do as well as this one. I just need to take in more responsibility with my stories instead of having them stay in my computer for more than a month and work on it every now and then. The new story will be a Bloodborne/RWBY crossover, but continues after brassleader's own story. Don't worry, I asked for his/her permission to do it, so I'm good. After the first 2 chapters of that story, I'll continue this story either after the second or third chapter of the new story. Basically, a new chapter with one story, then do the next chapter of the other story. With that, we shall meet again in a new story of blood and nightmares. Tata.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Hi guys, I'm back. I now have a job as a concession worker at a baseball field. I'm gonna try to keep a 1 to 2 week schedule, but it's not 100% guaranteed. Also, I'm not gonna have 10,000 word chapters as they are a lot of work. So, when I have a new chapter, it'll be less than 10,000 words, including the A/Ns. The minimum is just whatever I can dish out for the chapter and 10,000 will be the max. Anyway, on to the parano- I mean the disclaimer.

Disclaimer: RWBY is owned by Roosterteeth and created by the late Monyreak "Monty" Oum. There will be blood and gore in this story as well as some of the "so-so is naked" nudity thing for future chapters and stories. Now, let's continue our journey.

* * *

 **Chapter 3: New friend?**

Ruby was standing on a cliff that overlooked the White Fang base that Jason was in. The base itself looked like a factory of sorts with a courtyard in front of it. The courtyard had White Fang troops, jeeps, armored trucks, and a well fortified fence to keep Grimm out. Looking through the scope of Crescent Rose, she was able to spot an entrance to the building to get her acquaintance out. Looking at the opposition in the courtyard and any potential reinforcements, she called Grimoire for an update on her mission.

"Hello, Ruby. I assume you made it to the base?" Grimoire said.

"Yep. Think you can give me more details on this place?" Ruby asked, knowing he will.

"Yes, of course. According to the schematics of the building, it was a Dust mining factory for a company that went bankrupted not too long ago. Thanks to the White Fang and their backers, they refurbished it for their militaristic needs." He said, checking for a secret entrance in the schematics. "Nothing here indicates that there are any secret entrances or underground tunnels. You may need to go for a less subtle approach."

"I kinda figured that out. Alright, wish me luck." Ruby got into a running position and was about to jolt.

"Ruby wait!" Ruby stopped in her tracks so that Grimoire warn her. "Before you go, know this. Whoever is in there might have a strong Semblance if he was kept there for nearly 5 years. Do be careful in there Ruby, and good luck." He hung up, leaving Ruby alone once more. Getting back into position, she ran off the cliff while using her Semblance for an added boost.

Looking at the courtyard, she saw that she might land in the middle. Her plan was to jump in, kill every White Fang that gets in her way, rescue Jason, and get out. Landing in the courtyard, she readied her weapon to kill any of them that would try to stop her. Instead of getting attacked, she saw them reeling back in fear and despair of who they saw in front of them. They all called her different names given to her, mainly "The Crimson Reaper", "The Black and Red Death", "The Little Red Killer", and, her favorite, "The White Fang Bane". Yeah, she was popular. Ruby thought it would be interesting to see if she tried diplomacy first with her current status.

"Alright, I'm gonna give you all one chance and one chance only," She said loud enough for everyone to hear. "Give me the prisoner, Jason Clarke, or I won't cut all of you down with my scythe." Ruby smiled when she said the last part of her deal. Everyone was scared shitless by her presence alone, a threat to kill them all was way more intimidating.

"None of you do anything. Our prisoner is worth more than all of you combined." A woman in a very stylish dress said. Looking to her, Ruby guessed that the woman was Seris. Checking her gear and such, Ruby didn't really see her as a threat, but still kept her guard up just in case. "Well, well, well. Looks like it's the Red Reaper herself. You don't seem too tough to take down."

"Oh, really. You don't look too tough yourself. Skinny, in a dress, lady stilts, and a small rifle? Honestly, I'm not impressed." Ruby said with a sarcastic tone.

"Really, because you seem very tired. Maybe you should rest."

"What are you... talking... about..." Ruby was getting tired, like she took down Grimm for a whole day. Before she lost consciousness, she figured out what her Semblance was. Forced suggestion. "Oh, hell." She said, falling asleep.

Sometime later, Ruby woke up in a cell without her weapons. Still groggy, she looked around her cell to see a toilet and a bed without a mattress. One of the walls was a clear, reinforced window showing the man himself.

"Hey, Jason." Ruby said, a little more awake now.

"Hello, Ruby. Nice to see you in person." Jason said, smiling in his helmet in irony.

"Yeah. I was hoping to break you out of here, but Seris thought other wise. What exactly is her Semblance?"

"Basically, she can make people suggest pretty much what she wants them to. If she says your skin's on fire, people will feel that. Luckily, it won't work through speakers or scrolls. From what I can tell, it seems to be a certain tone or that she says it like it's obvious to her. What did she say to you?"

"She said I seemed very tired and that I should rest."

"Exactly how she did it from my experiences. For now, let's focus on getting out of here. We should wait for a guard to," He looked over to Ruby to see her hood on the ground as well as trying to take off her corset. "What are you doing?"

"I have a small knife on the outside of my bra. Should help us deal with the guard when he's here." Ruby undid the laces on her corset and lifted it before stopping midway. "You can look away, you know."

"Says the one who didn't bother to wear anything when I first saw you." Ruby thought for a moment before she answered.

"Fair enough." She stopped at the top of her chest to reach for the knife, but found nothing in the sheathe. "They took my knife!"

"Well, that complicates things."

"Hold on." She put her corset back down to reach her skirt. "Now, look away. You didn't see my bottom last time." She said in a demanding voice

"Really!? Why the hell do you have small knifes on both undies!?" He said, looking away from her before her skirt fell to the ground.

"Okay, 1. You saying 'undies' is pretty funny, and 2. In case of situations like thi-"

"...Ruby?"

"Those sons of bitches! I'm gonna fucking kill them!" She angrily put her skirt on and tightened the laces on her corset.

"No knife?"

"No!"

"Alright, calm down. When there's a way there's a how." Jason said as he walked to the bars of his cell as a White Fang guard was passing by.

"How cliché of you Jason." She said as she looked over to him and put on her hood. Having the guard in a choke hold, Jason reached for his keys. Grabbing them, he swiftly broke the guard's neck before getting himself out. He went to Ruby's cell and opened it as he was ready to run. "What now?"

"We run to where they're keeping our stuff. Follow me and don't lag behind." He said before bolting down the hall with Ruby right behind him. They ran down many halls and such, going to a sort of storage room that the Inquisitor-to-be saw with his stuff.

"Hey. You told me that they built this place, but it was a sort of mining facility for Dust, according to Grimoire."

"For the most part, I am right."

"So what the hell is this place now!?" Ruby was a little agitated.

"They refurbished and built certain things for this place to be a military like base. This place was abandoned recently when they found it, so it didn't take as long to remake this into a base."

"Why was it abandoned?"

"A few years ago, this area had high Grimm activity, so it was a huge hazard for the people here. Now most of the Grimm are near Beacon, making this place relatively safe. Next door on our left should be where they're keeping our stuff."

"Got it!" Ruby and Jason skid across the floor to stop right in front of the room. Running in, the door slammed behind them as they entered. Ruby wasn't worried all that much since she had plenty of explosive ammo to blow it open. Jason was a little worried that he might need to unleash his Semblance, revealing it to the White Fang. Looking to Ruby, he was less worried since she was confident in getting them both out soon.

"Well, well, well. Looks like we have ourselves some trapped rats. Getting out of there would be easy if it was a normal door, but it's reinforced to keep Death Stalkers out." Seris said, not noticing Ruby get more ammunition out of her pack. "Really, if you have some ingenious plan to get out, it will ultimately fail. Maybe you should have tried to-"

"Fire in the hole!" Ruby yelled, shooting the pile of ammo piled in front of the door. The explosion ripped the door right out of where it once stood, making a huge hole with some fire around it. "Come on, we need to go if we stand a chance against them." Both huntsman then ran to the direction of the courtyard for their fight.

Seris just stood there, mouth agaped at the sight of her failed trapped. Behind her was a screen that had Cinder looking at her with a smile of amusement.

"It seems that the Rose has more tricks up her sleeves than you thought." Cinder said as Seris started to become more and more enraged. "She had four years to get to where she is now. You could learn a thing or two from the little-" Seris turned and slammed her fist on the table that the monitor was on, making Cinder jumped from the sudden gesture. The new Maiden was a little worried for Seris as she had the look of a completely enraged and crazed woman.

"I refuse to let that little bitch outsmart me! When I get to her, I will cut her down until only her fucking head is still intact! I will not let her get away with this- this- embarrassment to my image!" She said, breathing heavily after her little speech. Cinder just smiled and looked at her now pissed minion.

"Good luck with that." Cinder than ended the call as Seris got her pike/rifle ready for killing. She was determined to kill her prey, once and for all.

The two escapees were in a hall fighting off some White Fang that were trying to keep them in the facility. Jason was equipped with two submachine guns, a curved sword on his side, and a sort of rifle on his back. Using mainly his SMGs, he aimed around his pillar and killed 3 White Fang soldiers before taking cover again. Looking over to Ruby, he saw her aim around her half-ruined pillar before taking down 6 other goons with her weapon in sniper form without its scope.

Before they could talk over the gun fire, a rocket hit Jason's pillar, getting rid of half of his cover. After recovering from the shock, he decided to show off his skills by killing the remaining White Fang before Ruby could even get her weapon ready. As Ruby took out the empty clip of Crescent Rose, Jason jumped over his cover and shot 2 terrorists in the head in one burst. Running to them, they tried to hit him, but he practically dodged the barrage of bullets. Taking out his curved sword, he decapitated 2 more White Fang before taking out his rifle/staff hybrid in his left hand. With 3 enemies remaining, he shot 2 of them before slamming the butt of the weapon right into the throat of the last one. Looking back at Ruby, she stood there in a surprised state before releasing the lever of her weapon.

"Holy shit, dude." Ruby said, still shocked from what she saw. Her reload speed was 3.7 seconds, and Jason beat her by 0.2 seconds.

"Took me a while to get to that speed, but it definitely paid off. We should go before more show up. Don't wanna be killed in some halls." Jason said.

"Ah- Right! Let's move!" Ruby said as she sprinted off before Jason could react. Lagging behind a bit, Jason looked behind them in case some White Fang were after them. "Not so fast now, aren't ya?" She said in a cocky tone.

"Just open the door, already." Ruby hit the button before halting right outside with Jason. In front of them had to be 60-70 White Fang soldiers with Seris on the railing behind them.

"You ready, Ruby."

"Of course. Let's go, you bastards!"

"It'd be great for Deathbringer to have it's fair share of blood." Confused, Ruby looked behind her right as he put his left hand weapon on his back. Bringing the sword up, he slammed it behind him, hitting the rifle. Feeling a handle come up behind him, he grabbed it with his left hand, revealing to be a scythe that was much more menacing than Ruby's Crescent Rose. Bringing it in front of him, he sent his left Index finger and thumb up the blade, creating sparks from his armored fingers. "So, who's first?" Jason said as he aimed it to the crowd in front of him.

"Go, kill them. There's so many of us, and only 2 of them." Seris said. The White Fang were hesitant to attack, knowing they're going up against the Crimson Reaper and the Inquisitor-to-be. "Kill them or I'll kill you myself!" With that, the White Fang soldiers charged at them, mainly equipped with melee weapons and assault rifles. Seris' confidence in her small army soon turned to fear for her life.

Between the 2 escapees, Seris thought that their skill was amazing, but mostly terrifying. Ruby seemed like a blur of red to the minion, decapitating and mutilating her troops. Jason, on the other hand, was a different story. He moved around his enemies very smoothly, but delivered very powerful strikes to his enemies. Even though the soldiers had rifles, they seemed useless compared to the leader's dodging skills. Seris transformed her pike into a thin rifle, using .300 BLK caliber bullets for it's maximum damage output. Loading individual bullets, she aimed her weapon at Jason to try and get him off balance. Firing, she saw that Jason actually blocked the bullet, deflecting it into an unlucky White Fang soldier. With that, Seris lost all hope of surviving this battle.

Ruby looked over to Jason to see him tearing through the White Fang with relative ease. Focusing on her battle and Jason's, she saw the huntsman stab a grunt in the chest with his scythe, lift him up, and throw the new cadaver at more grunts. Although amazed, she sorta half-guessed that he had these kind of skills after he took out the grunts in the hall.

Seeing the last of them cower in fear, she turned her focus to the main thug in charge. Before she can strike, she can hear some death screams behind her. Looking behind her, she saw Jason kill off some of the defenseless and fearful grunts. If she didn't stop her new acquaintance, then he might be considered as someone like the White Fang.

"Jason, stop!" Ruby exclaimed, getting Jason's attention.

"Stop? You want me to stop dispensing justice on these terrorists!?" Jason asked, thinking that she had gone insane.

"This isn't entirely justice. Sure, most of them before we got out probably got what they deserved, but that doesn't mean all of them deserve death!"

"Do you really want to take that chance!? These guys killed innocent people, even those that wanted to leave their cause. These monsters don't deserve to live!"

"Then you're no better than them!" This one actually touched a nerve, making him try to retaliate before Ruby continued. "I have rules for this sort of thing, alright!? Just because some of them did horrible things doesn't mean that they all did it. Look around you! Do you really think they'll just keep working for them after the carnage we made here!? They're too scared to try and hurt you or anyone else. I would show them what would happen if they kept doing whatever they were doing before I came along." Jason stopped what he was doing to pay attention to Ruby's words.

"Sometimes I killed those who were doing this for reasons outside of being a terrorist. Sometimes, I let people go who wanted revenge on the entire human race, going back to their old ways before I put them down for good. I know it's not perfect, but it's better than being a monster like them." He understood what she was saying, knowing that it is better than being an animal, letting the rest leave. With that, he turned his focus to Seris as she was finishing her preparations for the two-on-one fight.

"I understand. Now then, let's take care of some business." He said, pointing his scythe at the traitor in front of them. Seeing the fear in her eyes, Jason lunged at her for a swift attack. Dodging the attack, she saw Ruby going for an attack while in the middle of the her dodge. Taking the hit, she transformed her rifle into it's pike form before she took a swipe at the huntress. Ruby dodged Seris' attack as Jason went in for a strike of his own, sending her a few feet away from the duo. Seeing the traitorous huntsman hit the ground, the two allies knew that they might see her full skill. The member of Cinder's group got up from where she stood, turning around to see the two huntsman before she unleashed hell on them.

"I will fucking kill you!" Seris said as she readied her pike for an attack. Charging at the duo, she tried to horizontally slash at them before they dodged her attack. Changing her weapon again, Seris turned it into a dual-bladed sword. Using her rage as fuel, she went in with dual attacks on both scythe wielders. Seeing she had a slight edge on them, she tried her best to press her attack on them.

Ruby seemed to be having a hard time trying get a good hit on Seris, constantly being blocked by one side of her swords. Though she did need to give the gang member credit, constantly blocking attacks from both huntsmen with such speed gave her normal Semblance a run for it's money. Seeing that she couldn't get a good strike on her, the best she could hope for was to tire her opponent out to deal some well placed strikes on Seris.

Giving Jason a look to back off, she rolled backwards and picked up 2 swords to make her defense and offense more efficient than a big scythe. Luckily for the little Reaper, Seris took the challenge and went all out on Ruby. Although Seris had great reflexes with her dual-bladed sword, Ruby could keep up as well as last for a really long time. Every time Seris goes in for an attack, Ruby blocks it just as fast, and vice versa. Just as Ruby predicted, she could feel her opponent's movements slow down as the fight dragged on. Ruby saw Seris exponentially slow down, looking like she's going to collapse at any moment. Instead, the gang member suddenly went to full strength like she just started fighting.

Whatever the hell it was, Ruby was sure that Seris might wear herself out twice as fast with her sudden use of her remaining energy. She hoped that Semblance didn't work like that mystical power in a sci-fi movie, but couldn't quite put her finger on it. Ruby could feel that her opponent was not slowing down and knew what she needed to go on the offensive herself. Using her full speed, she wailed on Seris to try and tire her out at a quicker rate.

Seris felt overwhelmed. She was blocking every attack that Ruby dished out, but she now couldn't get a hit on the young huntress. She felt herself growing weaker and weaker. As she slowed down, she also felt Ruby slow down to make sure she did tire out. After a minute of struggling, Seris finally fell to her hands and knees while breathing heavily from exhaustion. Looking up to Ruby, she felt only fear as the Crimson Reaper looked down at her, like the lowly huntress she was. As Seris looked on in fear, she felt an arm wrap around her neck and lift her off the ground. Feeling how cold it was, she knew exactly who it was, and she was terrified.

Jason had his armored arm around Seris' neck, ready to snap it in an instant. He felt so much joy as he held the bitch's neck around his arm, the one who put him in a cage for 5 years. Looking to Ruby, he saw that she was surprised by someone that went to an execution option so fast. Loosening his grip a little, he held Seris just in case she did anything funny.

"Is there something you wanna say?" Jason asked Ruby, somewhat anxious to kill his captor.

"Not really, just surprised that you went to execution that fast. But, I get it. Being help captive by her, I would probably do the same thing, the more I think about it. Well, go ahead and-"

"Do you honestly trust him, just like that!?" Seris exclaimed, cutting off Ruby. The victorious huntress looked at the wanna-be with curiosity.

"Indulge me." Ruby said, calling on Seris' "bluff".

"This guy is possibly the worst thing to happen to all of Remnant. Everything he does is to 'protect the people', but do you know how he does it?" Ruby was actually intrigued by Seris' claims on Jason, while he was wondering how far she'll call him a terror. "He either executes or tortures his victims, even if they were to plead guilty and confess their crimes, he'd give them the punishments he thinks they deserved. Hell, if it means to help the innocent, he'd take down a kingdom without a moment's hestita-" Seris felt a cold grip around her mouth that kept growing tighter and tighter, keeping her from talking anymore of her "facts".

"You don't deserve the goddamn right to misinterpret my words." Jason said, snapping Seris' neck with a swift motion. Seris' body fell to the ground, adding another body to the field of corpses. Ruby looked to her opponents body, not knowing how to react to what happened. "Hey," The She Reaper jumped from him, suddenly getting her attention. "You wanna just leave this place or do you wanna burn this place to the ground."

"Oh-uuuhhh. Yeah, um." Ruby thought about it for a minute on what to do before she had a good idea. "Why not have your guys here instead? If burning the bodies can make it easier, then I'm okay with that." Hearing the idea, Jason thought about it as well.

"I don't see why not. Though, to keep my group a secret, I'll need them to take care of the bodies here instead of us. We don't want Vale on this place before my people are here." Ruby nodded and left the place as some Grimm descended on it to "eat" some of the bodies there as night set in.

As they made their way into the forest, Jason started to slow down to ask Ruby some questions. The huntress herself was worried what was happening when Jason slowed down to a stop.

"Before we move on, I want to ask you 3 questions. Is that alright?" He said as he turned around to face Ruby.

"It's cool." She said as they sat down on some logs. "Shoot."

"If you insist. How many Grimm have you killed, in general?" He asked.

"That's a tough question. If I had to guesstimate, probably a little over a thousand. Hell, it might be over two thousand." She said with some pride.

"How many people have you killed?" Looking at the Reaper, he saw that she was surprised at first before she went to a mixed look of worry and fear.

"I- um... I don't-... It... could be... over... a few hundred or so. Maybe way more than that. I don't know." She said, having a more saddened and ashamed look on her.

"Why?"

"Most of them were White Fang, doing horrible things to innocent people. Some were just people that were doing the same horrible things that the White Fang. But some... some of them were... were..." Ruby had tears welled up in her eyes, remembering the ones she felt so guilty for. "Some of them died because I fucked up in some way or another, other I had to do it to put them out of their mercy! They were all my fault!" Ruby was bawling at this point, feeling like a complete monster to Jason. Unexpecting it, she felt a hand on her head, patting her for comfort.

Looking up, she saw Jason over her, patting her head to try and make her feel better. Getting up, she quickly hugged Jason as a silent "thank you" for understanding her past deeds. For some reason, she felt like her vulnerable fifteen-year-old self again, just like her time as a White Fang prisoner. Slowly hugging her back, he decided that she would be a perfect member for his group, though hesitant to ask her right away.

"You good?" He asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She said, wiping away tears from her eyes. "Let's head to a nearby village to rest for the night. Well, what's left of it."

"Alright. There should be a village north of here, less than an hour by foot."

"Sounds good. Let's go and plan where we should head first."

"Luckily for us, I already have a route planned out." Surprised, Ruby thought that whatever it was, it would hopefully be worth while.

"Okay. Wanna tell me where we'll go?"

"A place where I hid a very special weapon." Looking to Ruby, he saw that she was a bit skeptical about it. "If the rumors are true, it has the power to destroy the power of a Maiden, for good."

* * *

Ay, I finally got chapter 3 done. Like I said, I will try to keep up my planned schedule for story chapters, but I might not be able to keep it up. However, a new problem has arisen; I want to put out more stories, but I don't want to overburden myself. I have found a simple solution, ask you guys if you want to help expand my ideas for your own stories. Basically, I want to ask everyone if you or some else you know want to put some of these ideas into fruition. This can help me get stories going without me sacrificing any time to my other stories. With that, I go on to the 3rd chapter of my other story, "War of Hunters". For now, farewell and I'll see all of you in Chapter 4.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Hi everyone. Just so everyone knows, I decided to not do the schedule for some time. I'll try to keep it up to date, but no promises. Also, if someone wants to me help get some stories out, please PM me. P.S.: I decided to go with 1-9 being words and the rest being their respected numbers. Anyway, to this thing.

Disclaimer: RWBY is owned by Roosterteeth and was created by the late Monyreak "Monty" Oum. There will be blood, gore, and some "so-so is naked" nudity throughout this story. Now, let our journey continue.

* * *

 **Chapter 4: The power**

"So, we just need to find this weapon of yours and we can kill Cinder along with the Fall Maiden power?" Ruby asked Jason as they walked down a road. They traveled for 3 weeks towards Clarke's mystery weapon, finally reaching the homestretch of his journey. For some reason, Ruby seemed a bit agitated when she climbed down her tree, choosing the tree to avoid unwanted attacks.

"If the rumors are true, then yeah. Though, it was never tested, as seen by all of them still being alive." Jason said.

"So were only going on rumors and supposed magical powers. Well, call me sold on this possibly stupid idea." Ruby noticed that Jason's hand twitch from her comment.

"You're very cranky, aren't you?" He said with a hidden anger.

"I... wasn't able to relieve myself this this morning." Jason was confused from this.

"What do you mean by that?" He asked, cautious of the answer.

"Well, you didn't give me enough time to m-"

"Let's keep going, shall we!?" Jason immediately regretted his decision to ask her what was her problem. Ruby just blushed while she pouted, making it obvious that she was not pleased.

After they traveled for a few more hours, approaching evening, Ruby started to grumble to herself. Jason knew what it was about, but was absolutely appalled by her persistence to just moan and groan about this. Poor choice of words, but whatever. Jason was about to let it slide until he heard her insult him.

"Alright! I give up! What the fuck do you want from me!?" Jason said, absolutely furious at her partner. Ruby was shocked at first, but then transitioned to an authoritative stance. _'Oh, dammit.'_

"Really? Is that how you treat your new partner?" Ruby said with a semi-sarcastic tone. This only infuriated Jason further.

"Now you listen here. You have no sort of authority over me. I'm the one who was trapped in a cell for 4 **fucking** years! If anyone is supposed to be offended, it's me! You're over here groaning at the fact you couldn't relieve yourself, while the god damn apocalypse is looming upon us. I dedicated half of my entire career finding that weapon you brush off as a bust. And what the hell have you done? Honed in a special ability gift-wrapped by your own mother, killed hundreds of White Fang, and never once decided to head off to another kingdom that might be as bad or worse than Vale in **4 years**! You had 4 years until the dragon was freed, and you wasted it on staying around Vale. God!" Jason vented out all he could to try and be less angry. "If it were up to me, you wouldn't have a right to complain about your little problem! Honestly, compared to what we'll need to deal with, this the most insignificant thing as of now." He let it sink in, making Ruby think about it.

"Why?" She asked, confusing Jason.

"Anything in particular?" He asked, calmed down significantly.

"You said that if it were up to you, I wouldn't have the right to complain about my... problem. So, why not do it?" She asked in a very sincere tone.

"Because, we need to be more cooperative, significantly more when the time is right. So, the whole 'try to dictate you' option is not the best one as of this journey and so on." He said, cooled down now. Both of them felt ashamed of themselves, Jason using her problem as an excuse to vent out some pent up rage, and Ruby making her puny predicament into a problem.

"Uh... you don't mind if I-"

"Yeah, go ahead."

"Thanks, I'll be quick." She said as she ran into the forest.

 _'Well, let's see what kind of games I missed while I was in there.'_ Jason thought as he nearly muted the sound from the outside of his helmet and connected the audio of his scroll to it. He played some free-to-play games, waiting for Ruby to finish for half an hour. He looked up every now and then to see the sunset turn into near darkness.

"Oh, just a little more." He said as he almost made it to the end of a level. He almost made it, but his character was shot in the back before he got to the objective. "Damn! So close that time."

"Yeah, you were." Ruby said, muffled to Jason. He immediately unmuted his helmet to hear his new partner more clearly. "Anyway, we should head out to the nearest village. Wouldn't want to be caught by some Grimm out here."

"Okay. It should be less than an hour 'til we get there. Hopefully, we can-" His sentence was cut short from a mix of Grimm roars, somewhere in the direction of said village. As soon as they realized where it came from, they hurried to it's source as best they could. In order to cover more ground, they both started to leap from the trees. While Ruby used her Semblence to leap from branch to branch, Jason used built in boosters to have an effective leap distance compared to the red huntress. She was thoroughly impressed with his technological advantages in order to compensate with his strange Semblance.

 _'If his Semblance is that useless, than why not tell me it?'_ Ruby thought, wondering what it was instead of being a "weird Semblance". Before she could ask him, he stopped ahead of her and signaled her to do the same. After she did so, Ruby saw what he was looking at. From what they could tell, it was a narrow open area with what looked like a huge mass of Grimm, being able to see perched Nevermores and even a couple Goliaths.

"Holy hell." Ruby said.

"No kidding. And from the looks of it, its probably only a forth of what it actually is?" Jason said. Ruby tried to make sense of what he was saying, but when she looked around, she saw more perched Nevermores in the distance.

"Is it from the Nevermores over there?"

"No. It's... from my Semblance." Ruby looked at Jason with utter confusion. "Aside from giving increased protection and other passive abilities, I can sense other Grimm due to my power. Like how you can run for long periods of time and not be remotely tired." This shocked the little reaper, knowing that whatever his Semblance was, it had to be connected to the Grimm in some form or fashion.

"So, what's the plan?" Ruby asked, eager to fight.

"You stay up here and take out some of them from a distance while I take them on down there."

"Okay, use their own want to kill against them. Not bad." She said, seeing it actually work in practice.

"Good. Break!" He said as he went down to the area. Some of the Grimm saw him make his way down to their level, unaware of the sniper in the trees. Seeing him, some of them charged toward the lone huntsman, seizing the opportunity before them. Once they were in range, he pulled out his SMGs and fired upon the Grimm before him. Out of about seven of the ones after him, he managed to kill four of them while Ruby sniped the rest. Seeing their brethren die, most of the horde in front of him made its way to the lone soldier. "Great, that was the one thing I was worried about." He said to himself as he readied for the worst.

Ruby looked on to the black mass that drew closer to her new partner, horrified at what might happen next. Aiming down her rifle, she prepared to take them down as they had originally planned. She hit the ones that would give Jason the most trouble, killing some Alpha Grimm to blinding bigger beasts, like Deathstalkers and King Taijitu. Checking on Jason every few seconds, he kept using his SMGs until the one in his left hand ran out of ammo. He quickly put the empty one away and replaced it with his curved sword. When the other gun ran out, he pulled out a drum mag for it and kept using it.

 _'Crap, there's too many!'_ Ruby thought. _'Please, don't get killed out there.'_ The horde kept coming, making both huntsman work twice as hard. Whenever Ruby looked back, she saw that his armor got more and more scratches on it every time she looked back. _'Why isn't his Aura deflecting the blows like it-'_ She realized what could be another draw back from his Semblance. _'Is it not allowing him to use his Aura properly?!'_ Before she could make her way down to help him, the Grimm stopped in their tracks and surrounded him. Looking toward Jason, she saw that he was practically kneeling and breathing heavily.

"Jason." Ruby said before she felt her scroll vibrate. Knowing who it was, she pulled out an earpiece and put it in before she answered the call. "Jason?"

"Who... were you... expecting? Mr. Sunshine... himself?" Jason said as he panting in between words.

"Hold on, I'll come to you and-"

"Don't bother. You'll be killed along with me if you... come for me." He said, grunting in pain.

"Is your Aura still okay?" She asked, worried about him.

"Oh, yeah. I just have it... dormant for now. It makes it... easier to active my Semblance in... case of a situation like this. That's why I have very durable armor on."

"Can you active it now?"

"No. I'm not hurt enough. I also try not to use it often, what with the result of using it." He heard a long silence as he waited for a response, starting to worry if she was alright. Before he could speak, he saw a Goliath, with more bone armor on it, hover over him, seeing that it had a lightning bolt shaped crack on it's head armor.

"Don't worry, I can get you out of there before they-"

"Enough!" Jason said, making the Grimm and Ruby freeze in place. "Don't worry about me. I'll be fine. Just focus on protecting the village in any way you can." He looked back at the huntress, looking into her eyes as best he could. "Good luck." Before Ruby could do anything, a Nevermore landed on the Goliath and chomped down on Jason. Lifting him up, it chomped on him again, severing his extended arm and dropping his SMG to the ground. After it devoured him, it flew into the air to find another tree to perch on.

"No." Ruby couldn't believe what just happened. "No." She saw her friend get eaten by a Grimm. "No!" She saw her friend die, a death that could've been prevented. "NO!" She thought of how the world took her friends away from her. First Pyrrha, then Penny, then Delilah, then Alex, and now Jason. She had enough.

" **NO!** " She screamed as she made her way to the open area and took out several Beowolves. "I'll kill you!" She said, making her way to Jason's severed arm. "I'll fucking kill you all!" She kept cutting them down, killing as many as possible to get to where her friend was last at. Before Ruby could pick up Jason's weapon, the Goliath swung it's armored trunk toward the huntress, sending her and both Jason's arm and weapon flying backward. Once she landed, she struggled to pick herself back up before seeing all of the Grimm in front of her. It appears she flew back quite a ways away from where she was, seeing the missing piece of ground several meters away.

"Damn you." She said, picking up the SMG. "I thought that we would both make it to that bitch and her dragon. But you took that away from me, just like all the others." She aimed the SMG to the Grimm in her right hand with Crescent Rose in her left. "I'm going to kill all of you, and then I'm going to help everyone in the village, and then make my way back to Vale." The Grimm readied themselves for a charge. "Well!? Who's next!?" Ruby was out for Grimm blood, ready to kill them all.

Before she could move, she felt something drop behind her, something really heavy. Looking behind her, she saw that it was a Nevermore that had some fresh blood on it's beak. She started to run toward the dead Grimm, but stopped to see that it's belly was swelling at an alarming rate. Soon, it blew open, causing it's insides to fly everywhere.

"Jason, thank God you're-" She started to say before she saw something huge tower over her. "What. The fuck. Is that!?" She said before it roared into the air.

* * *

Jason didn't feel all too great. From what he could tell, his arm was missing and he fell on something soft enough to break his fall. He remembered that he was eaten by a Nevermore not too long ago, which explain the movements. He was going to go back to sleep until he heard something. It was faint, but it sounded like someone crying out for help.

"Don't worry, I'm here." He said. It got louder from him speaking, making him stand up. He was in some liquid, kinda slimy but still easy to traverse. Tripping on something, he put his hand out to stop himself and felt... a hand? Feeling where it led to, it didn't take long to find out that it was severed. Turning his light on, he was horrified by the sight. There were dead and decaying corpses everywhere, seeing that the liquid was dark blood. Screaming in terror, he remembered that he needed to find the girl calling out for help.

"Don't worry! I'm coming!" He said, trying desperately to get to the source of the noise. He saw the girl hold onto a pile of bodies to keep herself afloat. "It's okay! It's okay, now. I'm here. Everything will be fine."

"Help. Please... help..." She said as she sank more and more into the dark pool. Grabbing onto her, he felt relieved until he saw her eyes. They didn't show any life in them. She was dead.

"No! No, please be alright. Lord, please let her be-" He stopped as he dragged her onto the body island. He saw that she had lost her lower body, leaving only her upper body and some dangling guts. Seeing this, he started to cry, kneeling in front of her.

"Damn you. Dam you all to hell!" He said, raising his stump to the throat of the Nevermore. "I refuse to let their deaths be in vein! I'll get out of here, and I'll kill you all with my bare hands if I have to!" He heard the Nevermore squeal. "Do you hear me!? With my BARE HANDS!"

He did it. It's happening. The power. Rage overwhelms him. Need to unleash it or he'll explode. He punches through the thing's throat, killing it. It drops to the ground. He grows. Needs room. Needs to break out. He breaks out. IT breaks out. The being is humanoid. It had a bone crown with sharp thorns. It had armor on its arms, legs, upper body, ab region, and neck. Claws on its fingers and toes. Human, but animal. It huffs before it roars. It is free.

* * *

Ruby was stunned by the towering creature before her. It stood at a terrifying 20 meters tall, more than enough to tower over the Goliath.

 _'Wait.'_ Ruby thought, trying to figure out how it came to be. _'If this thing came from that Nevermore... then.'_ Then it clicked.

"Jason?" Ruby asked. Before she could move to him, the Goliath that flung her away started to make it's way to the giant creature. Ruby saw Jason step forward before he recognized the Goliath, his face first having a look of recognition, then turn to pure rage. He walked forward, crushing two Beowolves that were behind Ruby, and stepped over the little reaper. The Goliath stopped in it's tracks before it bowed to the behemoth. "Do they know each other?" Ruby said to herself as the new Grimm stopped as well. She could hear it growling, wanting blood.

" **This isn't your world. Not anymore."** It said, surprising Ruby. The Goliath dug it's front two feet into the ground, ready to lunge. The beast clenched his fist in case it did. As the Goliath lunged forward, it decided to reel back its fist and punch the Goliath right on its head armor, sending fragments everywhere and breaking his hand. Ruby felt a shockwave pass by her, surprised by it's power. The Goliath fell to the ground, shaking in pain. Before it could attempt to get up, the beast hovered over the "unkillable" Grimm in superiority. **"** **Get up."** He stomped on the Goliath **"** **Get up!"** And again. **"** **Let me kill you, again, and again, and AGAIN!"** He said, caving its skull in. **"** **You will all die, tonight!"** He said, charging toward the horde of Grimm.

Ruby just froze in bewilderment, her mouth fully agape. She couldn't believe that such a creature could exist. What's more is that this creature is also her new partner. And from what she has seen, it can also heal it's wounds. The same kind of mist that Grimm turn into after they die seems to be coming off the creature's injured hand. What kind of soul has this kind of power? Why does it exist? Ruby now knew why he wanted to keep it a secret, at least in terms of how people would think of him. They would think of him as a monster, a freak far worse than any Grimm.

"You stupid ass." Ruby said, smiling at the creature. "Well, whether or not you want it, I'm helping you." She put the SMG down to pick up his severed arm and take the armor off, thinking that he might have his arm regenerated from the transformation. She put the armor into a pouch and picked up the SMG before she ran after the enraged creature. Leaping from branch to branch, she looked on at the carnage of her partner.

The giant Grimm tore through it's own kind like they were wet tissue paper. Grimm smaller than Deathstalkers were crushed beneath it, while those above the size of Deathstalkers were either ripped apart or curb stomped into paste. The Nevermores bothered it the most, flying around while trying to scratch and even peck out it's eyes out. It would sometimes grab the flying Grimm and rip their wings off, crushing their heads once they hit the ground.

 _'_ _ **These things will perish!**_ _' Jason_ thought, controlling the being with his fury. His rage was incomparable to that of Cinder after she was defeated by Ruby, or even Yang when she fought the mech. His anger was boiling, ungodly to even someone with serious anger issues. He tipped over a Goliath and clawed out it's guts, sending black blood everywhere.

" **This being will be your death!"** It said. From his perspective, his current form and his normal form are two different beings that he can control. He doesn't know whether or not his Grimm form even has a consciousness of it's own. Still killing Grimm, he felt something land on his right shoulder. He was about smash whatever it was, until he saw a girl in a red hood. He growled at her arrogance and for landing on his shoulder, startling him.

"Look, I get why you have this form as a secret. It's scary to look at, even if you kill Grimm using it." Ruby said, looking to the monster. "But this power is comparable to my own silver eyed warrior gift. This is much stronger than anyone could ever be in a thousand years. You killed two Goliaths in a matter of seconds. The one I killed took me a few minutes, at a minimum. So, how about we use this form of yours and save that village!" The being grinned and chuckled before he kicked a small Goliath into a Nevermore up above.

" **Let's kill them all!"** He said, screaming and charging to the village, kicking and stomping on some Grimm on the way there. He kept running until he saw the village, just a few dozen meters away. He then had an idea to show the people on the roofs of the building that he means well. **"** **Hold on."** He told Ruby, having her dig her scythe into its shoulder, who didn't mind all that much. It ran faster toward the village, scaring the villagers. Once it made it to the front of the horde, it jumped in the air and twisted himself so that it faced the mass of black. Once it landed, the beast dug his feet and his left arm in order to stop himself from skidding into the village. Luckily, he stopped a couple of meters from the wall of the village. With that, he stood up and roared defiantly to the coming darkness.

Ruby looked toward the village, seeing it's inhabitants scared out of their minds. She decided to tell them what's going on and why a humanoid Grimm is killing it's own kind. Jumping from Jason's shoulder, she landed on top of the wall and landed at the base of it to try to address the panicking crowd.

"Excuse me, if I could have..." Ruby said, getting no ones attention except what seems to be the leader of the village. "Um, excuse me!" Still no one. "Hello!" Still no one, except some who are saying she wants to destroy their homes with the giant Grimm. Seeing it was futile, she took out the magazine of Crescent Rose, pulled the bolt back to get the last bullet out, and replaced it with a special blank cartridge that was louder than usual. Holding onto her magazine, she plugged her left ear and aimed her weapon into the air. Firing it let out a piercing sound that immediately got everyone's attention. "Okay, I know that you think that this human-like Grimm will kill all of you, but please, give him a chance and he'll make sure to protect all of you."

"Why should we trust what you say!?" An old and very skeptical woman asked.

"What other choice do you have?" The red cloaked girl asked, getting some realizing looks on the crowds' faces.

"I for one agree with her." The village leader said. "Even if we had a choice, this may be our best option." Right as he said that, the giant Grimm took out some dive bombing Griffins, catching them and throwing them back at the bigger fliers. Even if they didn't like it, the villagers had to accept the help they got.

"Alright, if we're gonna survive this, we need to focus on the defense of this village. The wall seems strong enough to hold them off for sometime, but-" Ruby was saying to herself before she cut herself off when she saw the walkways already installed. "Did you guys plan ahead?" She asked the village leader.

"No, it's not our doing. Decades ago, a brigade of Vale soldiers set up a military base specifically to try and add land to the growing kingdom. Since the Fall of Beacon, the Vale military abandoned it, giving us a well defended home." He explained. "The men and women that are able are well trained to defend our home. Except now, it seems unlikely we'll survive."

"Hey. Looks can be deceiving, sir." Ruby said confidently. "Go tell everyone to have most of everyone on this wall. I'll head out and help the big guy. Good luck, sir." She aimed her gun toward the ground and launched herself over the wall for the fight of her life. Currently. She landed on the other side, Crescent Rose in hand, and started firing into the oncoming mass of black and evil.

After that, a full on massacre had started. Between Ruby's hacking and slashing, Jason's stomping and crushing, and the villager's shooting every Grimm that moved, the huge mass slowly turned into a fog of darkness. The fighting went on for what seemed like an eternity, only seeing a giant cloud of darkness in front of them. Still on edge, Ruby ran into the cloud to kill off any stragglers. Not wanting to go too deep, she came back within a few minutes and gave the all-clear. As she was heading to the village, the red reaper saw the giant Grimm extend his hand in front of him. Before Ruby could react in any way, the beast plunged its hand right into its heart, a black substance spilling out in the process.

"Jason!" Ruby shouted, shocked by the sudden attack on himself. Jason dug in himself, searching for something and then finally grabbing hold of what he was looking for. Slowly, he pulled out the object, being very cautious not to damage it. Looking at the scene in horror, she noticed that the beast form seemed to be dying from the action. Before it could pull out the object, the form fell to it's knees and died, bleeding profusely. The hand that was in the creature fell to the ground and made a human shaped object fall into the puddle, screaming on the way down. Instantly, Ruby rocketed to the object if it was who she thought it was.

"Aw, gross. It feels thicker each time I turn into you." Jason said to the evaporating body. As he looked to the fog of darkness, he saw Ruby running to him, unaware that she was going full speed. "Oh, hey Ru-" He was cut off by the little huntress hug-tackling him to the puddle, again. "Ow."

"Oh my god, Jason! I was so worried about you after you were eaten by the Grimm and then-" She was saying.

"Woah, woah, chill. I get it. You missed me. But I'm 100% fine. No need for you to..." He trailed off as he saw where Ruby was sitting on. The reaper looked down as well and gave the shifter a rather coy grin. "Please, no."

"What? I thought you'd this. In a special kind of way."

"Could you please just stop while your ahead?"

"Why? Are you becoming-"

"More and more in pain as you continue to sit on me." Ruby then gave him a surprised look. "Driving in that thing is not comfy, at all. I was lucky that my arm fully healed properly." Looking at where his stump should be, she saw that his arm did in fact grow back, possibly even healthier than before. "So, could you please get off of-?" Instead, Ruby sat Jason upright and hugged him. Shocked at first, he returned the hug, trying not to come off as a desperate man for love.

"I'm so glad you're back." Ruby said with genuine care in her voice.

"I can tell." Jason said, a little surprised by this sudden careness. "Come on, let's head back to the village." Ruby got up, but immediately slipped on the slick blood, falling to Jason's right. Before she got up, the shifter turned onto his belly and started to slide toward the village. "It's better if you slide like this. I slipped a lot on this stuff before figuring out that walking was a no go."

"Weirdo." Ruby said with a chuckle. She did the same thing, having some genuine fun with the blood of a giant beast of darkness. _'Not as fun now, now that I think about it.'_

"Oh, look. It almost made one." Ruby looked behind her to see a Beowolf that was nothing but a skeletal figure with some fur on it. After a few seconds, it died and evaporated into nothing. "My guess is that the beast is a sort of Grimm/human hybrid of sorts. Were it it's own species, there would be tons of Grimm popping out now." Jason continued on, but Ruby looked back every now and then to see if more spawned. Just as she was about to hit dry land, the scythe wielder looked back to see a dozen Beowolves form, only to give up and die, some not even getting their heads out before their untimely demise.

"That a new record of these things being made?"

"Nope. That was actually four dozen Grimm of varying species. The longest living one was a nearly complete Beowolf that died after I hit it once, lasting about a minute. The biggest was a full sized Goliath that hobbled to the forest, but collapsed half way to the woods."

"Huh. That's really strange. Well, no Grimm, no problem-" Ruby cut herself off to see the blood evaporate off of the both of them. "Woah. Now that's cool."

"Hm... Still need a shower."

"Oh, absolutely."

They walked back to the village and took turns taking showers in the nearby Inn. After they cleaned up, the village came together to vote on whether they should let Jason stay in their home. The armored man told them that he was going to sleep outside anyway since his Aura was running on fumes. Ruby went with Jason, despite having Jason protest and the villagers insisting that she stay inside the walls, since she was also accustomed to sleeping outside of villages and towns. The two abnormal huntsmen set up camp not far from the entrance in order to respond quickly to an outside threat.

"Nothing says 'a job well done' than a shower and making camp outside the protective wall of the village." Ruby said sarcastically.

"Yeah, well I don't want to turn into that thing again while I sleep in an inclosed building and a village filled with skittish people." Jason said, making Ruby give him a strange look. "Sometimes, the state that I'm in now can give off enough pain to fool my body into thinking it's near fatal and then the big guy comes out." The reaper snickered a little.

"At least I got some context from that last part." She looked to where the beast once was, making Jason look too. "Very convincing context."

"Yeah, well at least I don't have a dirty" He looked to Ruby only to see that she started undressing. "Mind."

"Sorry, but I am not going to sleep in my stuff. It gets very hot with it on."

"But didn't you... Oh, never mind." Jason said, thinking back to their first nights.

"Don't be too flustered. I'll only be in my underwear." She finished undressing down to her underwear and got into her cot. Jason just got in a cot with his armor, still not trusting to show his partner his face.

"Yeah well, today has been very eventful, so let's get some sleep."

"We deserve that much." They just laid there for a few moments, the fire they had still going. "You gonna put it out or am I?"

"We'll let it put itself out." With that, they tried to sleep. Ruby was still wondering about his ability. She also wondered why he always separate his Grimm form from himself. Even if it seems like an evil thing, it's still a Semblance. Something that can be used to fight evil, human or otherwise. She hoped that he'll use it more often for good.

"You still awake?"

"Yeah."

"What do you call your Grimm form?"

"Oh, right. I debated on what it should be called for a few months. I thought of calling it names of very evil people, but it didn't fit. Then, I thought of giving it a common name, like Bob or Steve, as a joke." Ruby laughed at the common name convention. "But then it hit me. I decided to call my form Abbadon."

"And its species?"

"Well, from what I feel, it is fully evil, nearly tempting me to give in. They weren't the actions of a hero or a benevolent god, it was the Grimm incarnate... of the Devil."

* * *

Well, at least this is done with. However, I have grave news. I'm not going to focus a lot on this story. I decided that this story is just an average fanfic story. Nothing too interesting, just Ruby trying to stop Cinder and Salem. I will keep doing this story, but it will won't have a schedule. It's just whenever I can and want to do it, or if I get back into this story again. Now, for those who are following me, you probably won't like my next story so much because of the show it's based in. In order to exceed the average, I decided to make an unorthodox story with an unorthodox place of it's known caliber. It's time that I finally give this place some actual hardships, deceptions of rulers, and the rise of new armies in a place of great color, peace, and happiness. Equestria will have corrupt gods, overwhelming enemies, and grand empires as the heroes fight for their survival, one way or another. Until then, see you all... whenever really.

Oh, before I go, I'd like to announce that I got a negative comment. What I say to that commenter is this: Welcome to Fanfiction.


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